Finally the UFC sign Tom Niinimaki, fights Rani Yahya TUF 18 finale

Exactly.
Want to see exciting new prospects in the UFC?
Then expect to see some old-timers who have hit a wall, cut.

Okami made maybe 50k/50k.... Drop in the god damn bucket to the UFC.

People acting like Okami or Fitch were expensive make me sad.
 
Does he have any wrestling or takedown defense? even if he does, he's probably still getting submitted by Yahya.
 
Does he have any wrestling or takedown defense? even if he does, he's probably still getting submitted by Yahya.

Ground used to be his weakest area but he took something like 3 years off to better that area. His homepage says:

ADCC
2009: Submission wrestling finnish open 2009 1st place 76,9
2008: Submission wrestling finnish championships 2008 76,9 kg
2007: Submission wrestling finnish open 2007 2nd place 73 kg
2005: Submission wrestling finnish open 2005 1st place 67 kg
FILA
2011: European championships grappling no gi 1st place 2011 70 kg
2011: European championships grappling gi 3rd place 2011 75 kg
2010: European championships grappling no gi 3rd place 2010 70kg
2010: European championships combat grappling 1st 2010 70kg

He also outwrestled Chase Beebe who was a four-time Illinois State Champion for Montini Catholic in Lombard, Illinois. (from Wikipedia)
 
Rani Yahya wins the first two rounds by way of superior grappling but not much else and then loses the 3rd round because he's gassed and/or not very good en route to a 29-28 decision.


How close am I?

Sounds reasonably accurate to me lol
 
I think niinimaki has a fairly good change here, he is lot bigger and stronger than yahya and his striking is lot better. And his wrestling has been impressive in his last few fights. If he performs in his normal level i think he wins by unamious decision.
 
Last edited:
Does he have any wrestling or takedown defense? even if he does, he's probably still getting submitted by Yahya.

He does. The only thing lacking is he doesn't have great elusive footwork with lateral movement so will have to fend off more TDs than he would have if he did. This could prove to be a problem against a grinder like Yahya but he should be strong enough to get the best of him in the clinch.

For the future it might prove to be hurdle though similar to what happened when Gustafsson ran into Davis. Gustafsson already had great TDD and raw power in his wrestling but his willingness to engage Davis at wrestling range made it all too easy to put a grind on him. Tom shares this flaw unfortunately but it's doubtful Yahya will be the guy to capitalize.

Other than that I'd say Tom is pretty similar to Kampmann except with a little more snap in his boxing, better wrestling and a little worse bjj. He's definitely tough and allround enough to hover around the top 10 as a nuisance for the rest of the division. If he intends to become a top 5 mainstay though he's got to get those feet moving and add more quality to his boxing.
 
I like Niin but against Yahya I see him getting grinded out on his back long enough to lose a dec.
 
Really impressed. That was not an easy opponent for a UFC debut.
 
I don't keep up on worldwide MMA like I did years ago so Ninimaki wasn't on my radar. I am impressed so far.
 
really impressive performance. Didn't know or care about him before this and was rooting for Yaha to get a quick sub in but he won me over during the fight.
 
Back
Top