Rani Yahya

Quick Hits: Cote Out Until 2010, Miller-Dollaway & More

- Canadian middleweight Patrick “The Predator” Cote will be out until 2010 after undergoing surgery to repair his injured MCL. Cote originally injured his knee in his UFC 90 title bout with Anderson Silva and is now expected to be out until at least February. [Sportsnet]

- Following WEC 42, $10,000 bonuses were handed out for Knockout of the Night, Submission of the Night, and Fight of the Night. The winners were Brian Bowles (KOTN), Rani Yahya (SOTN), and Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez (FOTN). [MMAWeekly.com]

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Hosman to Replace Osawa at WEC 42

Midwest Training Center product John Hosman has been tapped to replace an injured Kenji Osawa against submission specialist Rani Yahya in a bantamweight bout at WEC 42, which takes place on August 9 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

World Extreme Cagefighting confirmed the previously rumored switch on their official website earlier today. Osawa suffered a foot injury during a recent training session and will be sidelined indefinitely.

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Wineland Set to Return to WEC Against Yahya

After a year of fighting in smaller shows, former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland will likely make his return to the organization against jiu-jitsu champion Rani Yahya at WEC 40, which is scheduled to take place April 5 in Chicago, Illinois.

MMA on Tap was able to confirm the bout with sources close to the fight. Both fighters have agreed to the matchup and it is expected to be finalized shortly.

Wineland originally defeated Antonio Banuelos to claim the vacant WEC bantamweight title at WEC 20 three years ago and Zuffa opted to keep Wineland as their title holder when they purchased the promotion soon after.

However Wineland fell in his first and only title defense, losing a hard-fought unanimous decision to Chase Beebe at WEC 26. He has since won two straight fights, most recently defeating Wade Choate at a Corral Combat Classic event in November.

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WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown Live Results

We will be going live at 5:30 PM ET with complete results from tonight’s WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown event, which will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The show’s televised main card will air on Versus starting at 8 PM ET.

WEC 36 is headlined by Urijah Faber once again defending his featherweight title against gritty top contender Mike Thomas Brown. In addition, WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho will meet Chael Sonnen in a non-title rematch of their December 2007 fight and former UFC lightweight title holder Jens Pulver will look to get back on track against rising featherweight Leonard Garcia.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments throughout the evening. Detailed live results are after the jump. 

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Filho Misses Weight; Sonnen Fight Now Non-Title Affair

WEC middleweight title holder Paulo Filho came in an astounding seven pounds over the 185 lb. limit at the weigh-ins for WEC 36 on Tuesday afternoon, putting his championship rematch against Team Quest product Chael Sonnen in jeopardy.

After the two-hour allotted time limit, Filho was only able to cut down to 188 lbs, making his showdown against Sonnen a non-title affair. Sonnen will be awarded 25% of Filho’s purse.

In addition, featherweight title challenger Mike Brown came in a half pound over the featherweight limit and jiu-jitsu wizard Rani Yahya weighed-in one pound over the bantamweight requirements for his fight against Yoshiro Maeda. Brown was quickly able to shed the extra baggage while Maeda has agreed to face Yahya without forcing him to cut weight again.

Complete weigh-in results are after the jump.

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WEC Announces Full Card for Sept. 10 Show

World Extreme Cagefighting today officially announced the complete lineup of fights that will take place at the organization’s scheduled September 10th event in Hollywood, Florida.

The most notable bout made official today involves former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver looking to solidify himself as a contender once again in the WEC’s featherweight division as he will take on fellow heavy-hitter Leonard Garcia. The bout will be part of the event’s televised main card on Versus.

Pulver is coming off of a failed attempt to dethrone reigning 145 lb champion Urijah Faber while Garcia will be fighting for the first time since being charged and eventually cleared of involvement in a New Mexico drug ring.

Additional matchups announced for the card this afternoon included Rani Yahya vs. Yoshiro Maeda, Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone, Jake Rosholt vs. Danillo Villefort, Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov, Tim McKenzie vs. David Avellan, and Ed Ratcliff vs. Danny Castillo.

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Yahya Protest Shot Down

Fight Entertainment Group, the parent company of K-1 Hero’s, has announced that Rani Yahya’s protest made in hopes of overturning his loss to Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! has been denied.

Yahya filed the protest last month following his TKO loss to Yamamoto at the event. Yahya stated that a pair of soccer kicks delivered by Yamamoto caused the stoppage and that the decision should have been overturned due to the kicks being illegal under the official rules of the promotion..

However Hero’s official Gen Isono announced that referee Minoru Toyonaga halted the bout after Yahya crumpled to the ground following a Yamamoto left hook and that soccer kicks had no involvement with the stoppage since they came after the punch had already landed.

K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! Live Results

We will be going live at 1:00 AM EST with live results of K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!, which is taking place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan

The event is headlined by a main event between long-time Japanese veterans Kazushi Sakuraba and Masakatsu Funaki. Bob Sapp, “Kid” Yamamoto, Melvin Manhoef, and Ikuhisa Minowa will all be in action as well as annual Dynamite!! participants Bobby Ologun and Kiyoshi Tamura.

Be sure to leave comments throughout the morning.

Live results are shown after the jump.

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Break It Down: Yarennoka! & K-1 Dynamite!!

John Chandler here again, breaking down Yarennoka! and K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! fight-by-fight, including detailed predictions along the way.

Yarennoka! features the return of Fedor Emelianenko as he takes on K-1 kickboxer Hong Man Choi. The undercard includes Gilbert Melendez going up against Mitsuhiro Ishida and Kazuo Misaki battling with Yoshihiro Akiyama.

K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! features an astounding total of 13 fights - 7 MMA bouts and 6 kickboxing matches. (I’ll only be previewing the MMA fights) The event is headlined by a main event between long-time Japanese veterans Kazushi Sakuraba and Masakatsu Funaki. Bob Sapp, “Kid” Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Tamura, Melvin Manhoef, and Ikuhisa Minowa will all be in action.

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K-1 Dynamite!! Pre-Fight Conference Notes

When Alfred Tennyson wrote “ring out the old, ring in the new,” the English poet was referring to the pealing of church bells to mark the beginning of a new year. It is also a Japanese tradition to strike the temple bell on December 31, but these days Tennyson’s phrase could just as easily be applied to the ringside bell at the Dynamite!! New Year’s Eve fight-sport extravaganza.

Over the last five years, K-1 Premium Dynamite!! has become one of the most widely-watched television productions in Japan, with estimates of up to 30 million viewers. This is fight-sport entertainment for the entire family, and tomorrow’s lineup is designed for maximum appeal. The evening’s 15 fights will feature wily veterans and wide-eyed teens; popular television “tarento” and foreign behemoths; and yes, more than a few match ups aimed at martial arts purists.

Seven bouts will be fought under Hero’s Rules (mixed martial arts), and eight under K-1 Rules (stand-up).

The Dynamite!! 2007 fighters met with the media this afternoon at the Osaka Imperial Hotel, to share their thoughts in advance of tomorrow night’s Kyocera Dome showdown.

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