Rani (left) loses to Simon (right) at UFC 234. Photo: Reproduction / Facebook @ufc
Three wins in a row and almost two years without knowing what it was like to lose. The Brazilian Rani Yaya He was going through a great phase in his career and was already targeting the highest ranked fighters in the bantamweight division (up to 61.2 kg.), but his plans ended up being frustrated with the defeat to Ricky simon at UFC 234. The black belt did not have a good performance and ended up defeated by unanimous decision from the judges.
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“I didn’t have my best performance. Looking now that the fight is over, it's very easy to say what could have been done differently. But I wasn't able to put into practice much of what I had worked on. But merits also from my opponent. He arrived suffocating me and I didn't expect it. I was hoping he would run away a little to avoid my takedown attempts. My strategy didn't really work because I started fighting on automatic after our first exchange of blows. I even think there was a knockdown for him. I haven't seen the fight yet, I've only seen a few shots', explained Rani.
The knockdown to which the Brazilian refers happened in the first exchange of blows with Ricky simon. According to Rani, from that moment on he started to fight automatically and was unable to maintain the strategy he had outlined for the fight.
“I don't know if it was at the moment of the knockdown, but my vision went completely black. I practically lost one side of my vision. I even had to go to the hospital afterwards because of it. But, over time, I regained my vision, but during the fight I had it completely dark. I fought completely on automatic from that point on. And then my strategy all went down the drain,” she revealed.
Rani had won three submission victories and was in the top 15 in the category, but should leave the rankings after the defeat. He already planned to face some top 10, but the setback frustrated his plans.
“It was a huge blow to me, because I was already aiming to fight with the top guys in the category. But whatever I think at this moment, it will be hot-headed. So, I need to cool down, recover my body well, because it was a very intense three-round fight. I need to rest now and then get back to training and working to get a better performance in my next fight,” he concluded.
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