UFC Fight Night 51 results: Rani Yahya gets revenge, taps Johnny Bedford in second

BRASILIA, Brazil – Controversy threatened to derail the rematch between Johnny Bedford (19-12-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and Rani Yahya (20-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC), but after a referee warning, the fight was allowed to reach its natural conclusion.

After getting knocked out thanks in part to an accidental headbutt in the first meeting, which ended in a no-contest, Yahya exacted revenge in the second round by putting Bedford on the mat and cranking a kimura.

The bantamweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 51 event at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

The official end came at the 2:04 mark of the second frame when Bedford tapped violently with his foot after a hand tap proved insufficient. The win put Yahya back in the win column after a “no contest” marked their first fight and a previous appearance ended in a split decision loss to Tom Niinimaki.

Immediately after the opening bell, Yahya shrugged off a tap of gloves and attacked with his fists before diving for Bedford’s legs. That’s when things briefly went awry as Bedford threw a kick as Yahya was getting up from the mat. The shot clipped him in the head and prompted referee Jarin Valel to stop the contest.

For a moment, it looked like a point would be deducted at the very least, but Valel elected to warn Bedford. After the restart, Yahya doggedly pursued a ground fight and put Bedford in danger with a guillotine attempt, though he wasn’t able to finish.

Bedford never had a chance to get in the fight as Yahya pursued him with punches in the second and then got back to dominant position after winding up on bottom. The kimura attempt followed, and Bedford was forced to tap.

Bedford is now 0-3 with one no contest in his past four appearances, making him a likely candidate for a contract release.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 51 results include:

• Rani Yahya def. Johnny Bedford via submission (kimura) – Round 2, 2:04

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 51, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Brazil.)