UFC 133 – Rani Yahya plans on handing Chad Mendes his first loss of his MMA career

Brazilian featherweight submission machine, Rani Yahya has been giving his thoughts on taking on undefeated powerhouse, Chad Mendes this weekend at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, and if he gets his way the Team Alpha Male fighter won’t be undefeated for long.

Speaking via Tatame Magazine, Yahya said:

“Chad is a much tougher challenger than Mike Brown to me because he’s rising and it tends to be a hard fight. The fact he still is undefeated motivates me a lot because this is the first time I’ll have a chance like that, to fight against someone who has never been defeated before.”

“My preparation was complete, both the physical and the technical part were well done. I did much specific training with takedown defenses and many Wrestling practicing, because he has Wrestling as his main modality. He has some flay on his game and we’re going to find it out. I want to explore it as much as I can, mainly on the floor, since Jiu-Jitsu is my best weapon, but I can also explore my striking because I could see some difficulties he has on his stand-up game.”

“You can expect my best performance ever. We accepted this fight with Chad Mendes, who’s so far undefeated, exactly because I’m in my best shape and it’s time, because I had a good time to get prepared and I’m in my best shape ever. If he takes me down it’ll be a blessing, there won’t be any problems because once we’re on the ground, I’m comfortable, on the bottom and on top.”

Yahya made his octagon debut on the UFC Fight Night 23 card in January, defeating former WEC 145 pound champion, Mike Brown via unanimous decision. The win put him back on track after losing back-to-back fights with the WEC.