UFC Fight Night 44’s Johnny Bedford still hot over no-contest with Rani Yahya

Johnny Bedford is just days away from facing Cody Gibson at UFC Fight Night 44, but he’s still thinking about the controversy surrounding his most recent fight, with Rani Yahya. More specifically, how he still wants a do-over.

“I really want to fight Rani Yahya again for numerous reasons,” Bedford told MMAjunkie. “I want that fight really, really bad. I honestly told my management company that I don’t think there’s any way he’s going to sign to fight me again. And it’s not because I’m some badass or some guy that just intimidates everyone in the division. I’m not trying to be that guy at all. I just know that I’m a really, really bad matchup for Rani Yahya, and I think he realized it.”

To recap the situation, Bedford and Yahya fought at April’s UFC Fight Night 39 event in Abu Dhabi. Bedford appeared on his way to being declared the victor by knockout just 39 seconds into the first round, but video replay revealed the fight-ending sequence was initiated by an unintentional, yet still illegal, head-butt.

Bedford thought he won the fight and wasn’t aware of the ruling until Bruce Buffer announced the results, which kicked off a heated face-to-face argument between Bedford and Yahya in the center of the octagon.

The rematch was subsequently booked for UFC Fight Night 44 this Saturday; however, Yahya was forced to withdraw from the contest due to an injury.

Bedford stops short of outright accusing Yahya of faking an injury to get out of the bout, but he’s convinced his Brazilian rival wants nothing to do with him.

“I think he realized in the short 39 seconds that it was going to be impossible for him to take me down and eventually I was going to punch him in the mouth and he wouldn’t like that outcome,” Bedford said. “He took one shot, I sprawled on him, and he went to his belly. It was pretty laughable. When he signed the contract (for the rematch), I told my management I would be surprised he keeps the fight, and sure enough he pulled out.”

What infuriates Bedford most about the situation, he said, is the fact he lost what he feels should have been a victory. With only four fights to his name in the past two-and-a-half years, Bedford relies heavily on earning both the “show” and “win” portion of his contract.

He lost out on the latter due to the no-contest, something that is particularly frustrating after seeing Jussier Formiga keep a recent win over Scott Jorgensen despite nearly knocking Jorgensen out cold with an accidental head-butt.

“You can’t tell me the outcome of the Jorgensen-Formiga fight doesn’t change without the head-butt,” Bedford said. “It’s frustrating to see that fight declared a winner due to a head-butt and me not being declared a winner. In all honesty, it comes down to dollars and sense for me. Obviously the wins are important for me as well, but I’m a father and a husband first. Dollars and sense matter to me.

“That was my fourth fight in the UFC in two-and-a-half years, so it’s not like I’ve made a ton of money in the UFC right now. You take away double my money in a fight that I won and was told I won. I was being congratulated by (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva that night.”

Many found Bedford’s in-cage scuffle to be somewhat unprofessional. However, Bedford said he has no regrets. He was highly emotional and felt like a victory was stolen from him, but in hindsight, he admitted he wasn’t fully aware what was going on and can understand any criticism thrown his way.

Still, though, Bedford (19-10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) wants his rematch with Yahya (19-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and hopes that will be the next step should he defeat Gibson (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on the FOX Sports 1-televised portion of the UFC Fight Night 44 preliminary card this Saturday at San Antonio’s AT&T Center.

Bedford’s not entirely confident Yahya would agree to it again, but the American believes he has much to gain from taking that rematch and wants nothing more than to settle the score.

“I hope he heals up and one day we can finish this because of all the drama,” Bedford said. “I definitely feel like I had a win guaranteed if I was going to fight Rani Yahya. I was going to make him stand up with me, and it was going to be a bad night for him. Now because he pulled out, there’s no drama or story or any of that. We were told we would be on the main card, and now I’m fighting on the prelims, which means I make less money in sponsorship.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 44, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Rani Yahya and Johnny Bedford)