Canada’s own Aiemann Zahabi put on an incredible performance last night as he out-worked bantamweight veteran Pedro Munhoz en route to a unanimous decision victory in front of his home crowd.
It was a mightily impressive win for the popular Canadian, who revealed after the event came to an end that he was inspired to get the victory by none other than Georges St-Pierre.
Aiemann Zahabi reveals how UFC legend GSP inspired him to the biggest win of his career
Aiemann Zahabi trains out of the TriStar Gym in Montreal under the tutelage of his older brother Firas and as such, remains a close friend and training partner to legendary former UFC double champion Georges St-Pierre.
GSP is widely known as one of the best inspirational speakers in all of MMA, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that Zahabi was fired up to get the victory after speaking to the iconic Hall of Famer, just a few minutes before he made the walk last night.
“Before the fight when I was backstage, GSP called and he’s like ‘Listen, you’re better than him everywhere but you’re going to have to do it for 15 minutes non-stop,’” Zahabi explained to reporters at the UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference.
“He’s like, ‘You can’t take a break in there, this guy is hard to put away and is very experienced, he hits hard so you’ve got to be on your game for 15 minutes straight – I believe in you, you can do it, you’re in great condition.’”
Zahabi admitted that speaking to GSP was a “great confidence booster” for the fight itself but couldn’t help breaking into a smile as he also revealed their post-fight conversation.
“We just called him back now backstage and the first thing that he said was ‘Man, you got a nice jab, baby!’ So, I was really happy with that, I told him that I’d stolen his jab – basically copied his style but yeah, it’s really good to get a call from him.”
- UFC EDMONTON: Bantamweight makes history by slicing opponent open with controversial strike made famous by Jon Jones
Aiemann Zahabi wants to fight a Top 15 ranked opponent next after Munhoz win
Following his unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz, Zahabi is now teetering on the edge of the Top 15, and given that his winning streak has just been extended to five, don’t be surprised to see the Canadian in the rankings come Tuesday’s update.
Speaking to Daniel Cormier in the octagon, Zahabi demanded that he either get a number next to his name, or the name of a Top 15 ranked opponent next.
“It feels incredible, hopefully now I can have a nice talk with Sean Shelby… Hopefully, if the people don’t put me in the Top 15, if the journalists don’t do it, then hopefully I get to fight someone in the Top 15 [next], so let’s set that up.”
“I’m hoping to get something early 2025,” he later told the UFC News crew.
“[A fight] in four or five months from now would be perfect… Obviously, we’ve got to talk to Sean Shelby, he’s the king of the UFC matchmakers, and I feel that we can come to some type of arrangement that works out for both of us.”
Aiemann Zahabi is now 12-2 as a professional and 6-2 under the UFC banner; with his last loss coming all the way back in May 2019.
- EXPLAINED: Derrick Lewis coach shares update on ‘medical issue’ that forced heavyweight icon off UFC Edmonton