Yan Cabral

Yan Cabral (born 13 May 1983 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a mixed martial artist, grappler and 4th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt practitioner and instructor associated with the Nova União academy. A former UFC fighter, Cabral trained mixed martial art (MMA) competing in the lightweight division. Head coach of the Aranha Association team, Cabral teaches out of Barcelona.

Background and early career
Cabral currently trains with team Nova Uniao alongside fighters such as Wagnney Fabiano, former UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barão.

Cabral made his professional MMA debut fighting in Luxembourg 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 to compete in their welterweight division. In his debut, he faced Kazushi Sakuraba 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 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, where he faced Naoyuki Kotani. 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 and replaced by Alex Oliveira.

Cabral faced Johnny Case 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.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Main Achievements (at Adult black belt level):


 * CBJJO World Cup Champion (2009)
 * 2nd Place CBJJO World Cup Championship (2008)
 * 2nd Place IBJJF European Championship (2009 / 2007 )

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)