Aiemann Zahabi wanted Sean O’Malley all along.
The Canadian bantamweight even called out “Suga,” a former UFC champion at 135lbs, following his last fight. That was a win over Chito Vera back in Vancouver last October, one that extended his win streak to seven.
Zahabi (14-2), part of Montreal’s famed TriStar gym, home of great talents like Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald, wasn’t expecting to fight the American star at the White House, however. And when he got the news, at least initially, he didn’t tell anyone.
News of the fight came through brother Firas, head coach at TriStar. Not just that he was fighting Zahabi, but doing so at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House grounds. The offer had been relayed by UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, but the deal wasn’t finalized immediately.
“Sean, he’s the biggest name probably in terms of the bantamweight division. And then on top of it, it’s going to be at the White House, everyone’s going to be watching, I’m excited, let’s do it,” Zahabi told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview ahead of the event. “But we didn’t get a ‘yes’ confirmation right away. I had to wait a few days until they announced it on the card, and I saw my name and me and my wife and kids were hugging, and we’re jumping, and we’re super-excited. The whole family was really happy.”
Essentially, prior to that public announcement, the UFC had kept him in limbo.
“Yeah listen, I wasn’t getting my hopes too high and I didn’t tell anybody. Because I didn’t want them to be like ‘ahh I told you, you would never get O’Malley.'”
There was, after all, always the chance the UFC would go another direction. And despite his win streak, which includes Vera and Jose Aldo, among others, there didn’t seem to be an overall consensus among fans and pundits that Zahabi would actually land the fight.
“When I called out O’Malley, even Mike Heck [MMA Fighting], when I did an interview, he told me he thought there was ‘no chance you were getting O’Malley,'” recalled Zahabi. “So I was getting a lot of weird responses from my callout, but in the end, look at me now.”
If Aiemann Zahabi defeats Sean O’Malley on Sunday at UFC Freedom 250, he’ll almost certainly be in line for a title shot. The trilogy fight between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili is out there, but eight straight wins with two former champs would be hard to deny past that. It’s coming late for Zahabi, however, at age 38. Despite that, he feels there’s a reason he’s peaking when he is.
“I think actually, men hit their peak in MMA around 32 to 36. You get your dad strength; I’ve got a couple kids. Also you become wiser, and I also think being in the game for so long, it takes time to get good at striking. And then it takes time to get good at wrestling, and it takes time to get good at jiu-jitsu,” he explained. “To get them all done at the same time, it’s a little bit unrealistic. It takes years to get good in every facet of the game. I think it’s just being dedicated, and not getting lost in too many distractions, and still upping your game every year. I think that’s the secret. Hard work. It’s not sexy, but it’s sound. Hard work doesn’t sell.”
Watch our full interview with UFC Freedom 250’s Aiemann Zahabi above.
