Vancouver – Fighters have been reluctant to take a fight with UFC bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi and his win at UFC 289 on Saturday night over Aoriqileng may have shown why.
“I’m not really like that type of guy. I’m not going to pretend to be Conor McGregor or anything, but I’m going to do what I have to do in the gym, prepare, and the fights will come,” Zahabi told Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.
“I’m not worried about any of that.”
Zahabi (10-2) stopped Aoriqileng by knockout in the first round of their fight in Vancouver which clearly sent a message to the rest of the bantamweight division that he’s a someone to deal with.
“For me I think it’s the best (the UFC bantamweight division). The most entertaining because it’s like you’re swimming with sharks. Everyone’s a shark, everyone’s good, the whole roster is dangerous,” Zahabi said.
“They can all finish you in their own way, and they all have great expertise. I think that’s why people love the bantamweight division, and we can take a punch. We ain’t that heavy so we throw a lot.”
A big storyline of UFC 289 were the Canadians going 6-0 on the night with Zahabi, Diana Belbita, Kyle Nelson, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Mike Malott all walking away victorious in their native country. Seems like every time Canadians do well in the UFC more and more people begin to train.
“I think we’re going to be on a hot streak man that’s great. I’m so happy for Canada. The sport needs to grow even more here. When Canadians do good on UFC cards like this in our country it’s amazing,” he said.
“Hopefully it pushes people to do more shows and get more into the sport.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Aiemann Zahabi above.
