Yan Cabral (born 13 May 1983 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil) is a

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt practitioner and instructor associated with the Nova União academy. A former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

fighter, Cabral trained

mixed martial art Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

(MMA) competing in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. Head coach of the Aranha Association team, Cabral teaches out of Barcelona.

Mixed Martial Arts career

Background and early career

Cabral currently trains with team Nova Uniao alongside fighters such as

Wagnney Fabiano Wagnney Silva Fabiano-Santos (born July 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is best known for fighting in the WEC, as well as for the Toronto Dragons of the International Fight League and is the former IFL Featherweight Champion ...

, former

UFC Featherweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (; born 9 September 1986), known as José Aldo, is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer who competed in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate F ...

, former UFC Bantamweight Champion

Renan Barão Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado (born 31 January 1987), known as Renan Barão, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a former UFC Bantamweight Champion. According to Fight Matrix, Barão holds the third longest unbeaten streak i ...

. Cabral made his professional MMA debut fighting in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in December 2007. Over the next four years, he quickly amassed an undefeated record of 10-0. All of his wins have come via submission with Cabral never having been into the third round in any of his fights.

DREAM

In 2011, Cabral signed with

DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

to compete in their welterweight division. In his debut, he faced

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, submission wrestling, submission wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently signed to Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Championship, G ...

at Dream.17. Cabral won the fight via submission in the second round, earning him his highest profile win to date.

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil

In March 2013, it was revealed that Cabral was a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2. He won his elimination fight to get into the TUF house, defeating Ronaldo Oliveira Silva by rear naked choke submission in round 1. He was chosen to be a member of Team Werdum and defeated David Vieira before being removed from the show due to a broken hand. At this point Cabral held an MMA record of 12 fights and 12 wins all by submission.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Cabral made his official UFC debut at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields, where he defeated David Mitchell by unanimous decision. In his second fight for the promotion, Cabral faced

Zak Cummings Zacharry "Zak" Michael Cummings (born August 2, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also for ...

at UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva. Despite controlling Cummings on the ground for a large portion of the fight, Cabral lost the fight by unanimous decision. Cabral returned on 25 October 2014 at

UFC 179 ''UFC 179: Aldo vs. Mendes 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on October 25, 2014, at Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Featherweight Championship, Featherweight Championship re ...

, where he faced

Naoyuki Kotani Naoyuki Kotani (born December 8, 1981) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2000, he has formerly competed in PRIDE, Pancrase, UFC, Vale Tudo Japan, and RINGS. M ...

. Cabral won the fight via second round rear naked choke. Cabral was expected to face Mairbek Taisumov on 24 January 2015 at UFC on Fox 14. However, Cabral was pulled from the fight for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Anthony Christodoulou. Cabral was expected to face K. J. Noons on 30 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 67. However, Cabral was forced out of the bout after contracting

Dengue Fever Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Asymptomatic infections are uncommon, mild cases happen frequently; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after i ...

and replaced by Alex Oliveira. Cabral faced

Johnny Case Johnny Case (born June 28, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist and professional boxer who currently competes in the Lightweight division of RIZIN. A professional since 2007, he formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pro ...

on 7 November 2015 at UFC Fight Night 77. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Cabral faced Reza Madadi on 8 May 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round after a brutal uppercut. Following his loss against Madadi, Cabral was released from the UFC.

After the UFC

In january 2017, Yan Cabral came back in the octagon to face Zalimkhan Yusupov at the World Kings Glory MMA 2. Cabral displayed high level jiu jitsu to win by RNC. He then came back in december 2017, for a second fight in China. He faced Peng Yang at The Legend King Championship 4 and won by submission. He was expected to face John Maguire in May 2020 in Madrid but the fight was cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis. Cabral came back to fight in May 2024, for AFL 34 against Mauricio Otalora, in Badalona, a city close to Barcelona, where Cabral lives. He won the fight by TKO. Following his win, he retired from MMA at the age of 41, surrounded by his team and his family.

Professional grappling career

Cabral is due to compete against Joao Zeferino of ADXC 6 on October 25, 2024.

Championships and achievements

Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Main Achievements (at Adult black belt level): * Copa do Mundo World Champion (2009) * 2nd Place Copa do Mundo (2008) * 2nd Place IBJJF European Championship (2009 / 2007) * 3rd Place

World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament held annually by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered the most important and prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament of the year. The fi ...

(2001) Main Achievements (at Master 1 black belt level): * ACB World Champion (2019) * 2nd Place Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship (2020) * Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Champion - Abu Dhabi (2020) * Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Champion - Los Angeles (2019) * 2nd Place Abu Dhabi Grand Slam - Tokyo (2019) * 2nd Place Abu Dhabi Grand Slam - Moscow (2019)

Mixed martial arts record

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Badalona Badalona (, , , ) is a municipality in Barcelonès county, in Catalonia (Spain). It is located to the north east of Barcelona, on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By population, ...

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Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

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Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Yan 1983 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen