Since he returned to the UFC just over a year ago, some fans have questioned the way that Jose Aldo has been booked.
The legendary former featherweight champion returned with a win over Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 before Aldo was controversially beaten by Mario Bautista at UFC 307 last September.
Rather than the Brazilian icon ticking off some dream matchups before he hangs up the gloves, the 38-year-old has been facing relatively new faces at the top of the bantamweight division.
This continues on May 10 where Aldo faces Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 310 with the Canadian fighter earning a spot in the top 15 following a five-fight win streak.
There has been criticism ever since the fight was made official but Zahabi believes that this style of matchmaking isn’t anything new for the MMA leader.
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Aiemann Zahabi says that his fight with Jose Aldo ‘makes UFC sense’ despite fan criticism
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Aiemann Zahabi gave his take on the criticism from fans in regards to how Jose Aldo has been matched since he returned to the Octagon last year.
The 37-year-old said that whilst he wasn’t necessarily expecting to get this fight, he wasn’t surprised either to see the UFC put one of the promotion’s most beloved legends into this kind of position because of how his last outing played out.
“I’ve been watching for a long time and UFC doesn’t care what you think they should do. They do what makes sense for them. They put every one on the chopping block and you have to fight for your spot no matter who you are.
“In that sense, it’s very merit based and given that he lost against [Mario] Bautista, and I know it was arguable, I’m not saying, ‘Oh he lost for sure, he got beat’. I just mean like the fact is that he lost in the end, the judges gave it to Bautista so they’re making him fight behind.
“Somebody behind him not someone ahead of him which kind of makes sense in terms of UFC’s strategy thinking for matchmaking.”
Of course, regardless of what he thinks about the way that the UFC are handling Aldo’s final years, Zahabi was never going to complain about getting to fight a legend in front of his home crowd in Montreal.
The Tristar athlete believes that he’s earned a fight like this and that it isn’t uncommon for the promotion to make a fighter prove his worth, regardless of what they’ve accomplished in the past.
“Him losing to me is a lot worse for him than me losing to him so the UFC is basically telling him, ‘Listen we know you’re a star, we know you’re a big name, we pay you the big checks but you lost one so now you gotta fight a guy that has won five’.
“I don’t get a lot of love and whatever but I won five fights so they’re giving me the opportunity I deserve and they’re making him fight for his spot. In the end, it makes UFC sense and I’m sure it breaks a lot of fan’s hearts but hopefully I win over a lot of fans after this fight.”
Aiemann Zahabi will have a UFC legend in his corner when he faces Jose Aldo at UFC 315
Before Aiemann Zahabi steps inside the Octagon with a UFC Hall of Famer, he will have one of them by his side when he makes the walk at the Bell Center in Montreal.
Aiemann’s brother, Firas Zahabi, is the highly-regarded head coach of Georges St-Pierre who produced some of the most memorable nights in UFC history in the same building that will host UFC 315 on May 10.
St-Pierre confirmed in an interview with Bloody Elbow that he would be in attendance to corner his Tristar teammate on the same night that the welterweight title will be defended.
The hometown fighter said that he personally called ‘Rush’ to tell him about the matchup with St-Pierre giving him some important advice before the biggest fight of his career.