Edmonton — Sitting pretty on a four-fight win streak, Canadian bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi has earned his biggest opponent yet in terms of name value in Pedro Munhoz.
The pair serve as the featured preliminary card fight at UFC Edmonton this Saturday, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zahabi (11-2) earn himself a spot in the rankings care of a fifth consecutive victory.
“It’s nice to have an opportunity to fight guys with big names, because it’s how you solidify yourself in the UFC,” Zahabi told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s UFC Edmonton media day. “And I feel like now, I’ve gotten a few records. I’ve got a huge upset win, I’m tied for like ninth biggest upset in the UFC, I have some other records too. So it’s good to be established now. I’m happy to have an opportunity to fight someone who’s been the top 15 so long, and he’s only lost to either champions or potential future champions.”
Zahabi, whose brother Firas is the head coach at Montreal’s TriStar gym, is coming into Saturday in Edmonton off a victory against the previously undefeated Javid Basharat. That victory turned heads, given the hype the Basharat brothers (Farid Basharat just earned another victory at UFC 308 last weekend) had coming into the promotion.
“I feel like I took some of that hype that he had, and the whole potential to rise up in the division. So I kind of stole that from him,” noted Zahabi. “Nonetheless, I think he’s a very good fighter, he’s very hard to beat, and he’s still a tough fight. I lost round one, but then I won rounds two and three. And I feel like a lot of guys in the bantamweight division are going to have a hard time beating him.”
As for Munhoz, who will hold the record for most bantamweight fights in UFC history come Saturday, a stand-up war is what most expect. Zahabi is more than ready, but would rather have an early night.
“I’m ready to go 15 minutes on the feet for sure. You know, it’s the one record I don’t want to have, is most strikes landed in a fight. I’d rather land a few and put you out then have the record for most strikes landed. Being a volume guy is great, but being a damage guy is even better. We saw that play out with Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria.”
Watch the full UFC Edmonton media day appearance by Aiemann Zahabi above.
