R. Yahia spoke to SUPER LUTAS after his victory in Brasília. Photo: Lucas Carrano/SUPER FIGHTS
Johnny Bedford is now officially a turning point in Rani Yahia's life. The two faced each other for the first time in April and the fight ended without result after an accidental clash between the athletes. In the rematch, scheduled for UFC Brasilia last Saturday (13), Yahia won by submission and guaranteed to forgive his rival for all the controversies they were involved in during the preparation for the two fights. Even so, in an interview with SUPER FIGHTS, the Brazilian didn't miss the chance to needle Bedford and give details of the feud between them.
“Bedford is forgiven. For me, that's what martial art is: it's respect, doing what you have to do and not letting things get you down. But he bothers me too much. I have nothing against him, so I keep to myself”, said the fighter. “People don't know, but there in Abu Dhabi (in the first fight), while Bruce Buffer was announcing, the camera was on me and he was on the other side making faces. Furthermore, he was headbutted. Here in Brasília, at the weigh-in, he threatened me, saying he was going to kill me. That kind of thing… And in the fight he even hit me with an illegal kick to the head. But that made all the difference, because at the time he threw that kick and when the judge asked me if I was okay, I said: 'I am'. And he saw that and was intimidated. He knew I was willing to die in here,” he added.
Even with Bedford's pardon, Rani said she believed the American tried to act in bad faith during the submission that ended the fight. “He was willing to commit fraud. The fight ended with verbal submission (verbal withdrawal) because I think he was going to say he didn't hit. I didn't want to go all the way in that position, because I already broke my arm like that, but as a professional I had to insist since he is a fighter who uses illegal strikes”, he commented. With the victory in Brasília (DF), Rani Yahia now has a professional record of 20 wins, eight losses and one fight without result.
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