May 10 was a massive night for Aiemann Zahabi who recorded the biggest win of his career in front of his home fans.
Ahead of UFC 315, fans were somewhat critical of the matchup between Montreal’s Zahabi and Jose Aldo with many wanting to see the Brazilian icon face more established names.
This only increased following the result of the contest where Zahabi defeated Aldo via a controversial unanimous decision following a great fight.
Though they met inside the Octagon for the first time this past weekend at the Bell Center, this wasn’t the first time that the Canadian has spent time preparing for the former featherweight champion.
Zahabi was tasked with mimicking Aldo 14 years ago where his teammate came up short at UFC 136.
Kenny Florian reacts to Aiemann Zahabi joking that he finally got revenge over Jose Aldo for him
When his fight with Jose Aldo was announced, Aiemann Zahabi reflected on the time that he spent mimicking the featherweight champion ahead of UFC 136.
Kenny Florian would challenge the Brazilian for the 145 pound title in Houston, Texas where the American came up short over five rounds in what would be the final fight of his career.
In his post-fight interview, Zahabi joked that he finally got revenge for his former teammate after getting his hand raised at UFC 315.
“Kenny Florian, I got him baby, okay. 14 years later, we did it. Okay, Kenny, I got you.”
On the latest episode of The Anik & Florian Podcast, UFC commentator Jon Anik gave his initial reaction to the clip having missed Zahabi’s comments.
“F— yeah Aiemann! Did you see that?! Was anyone gonna send me that as the president of team Florian? I’m just seeing that for the first time. My notes here, I thought it was Firas [Zahabi]. Dude, that is f—— amazing.”
Florian went on to speak about what it was like to see his former training partner get the win after being such a valuable asset during his UFC 136 preparations.
“It’s pretty amazing. Full disclosure, I have a long history with Aiemann. So, to see him win this fight against a guy that we started preparing for 14 years ago, in Montreal, where Aiemann was one of my main sparring partners, he was acting as Aldo, I brought him to Boston for a week or two.
“He did every single workout that I did, he didn’t have to, he was just there for sparring and man, he was with me every single step of the way cuz that’s just the way he is. That’s how hard he worked in his early 20s.
“Just amazing to see him fight a living legend like Jose Aldo and to win in the manner he did was extremely inspirational. Not surprised though.”
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What should be next for Aiemann Zahabi?
Following the latest update to the rankings, Aiemann Zahabi has climbed four spots after UFC 315 to hold the #11-ranking in the bantamweight division.
The Canadian called out Marlon Vera in his post-fight interview and although that’s a matchup that makes a lot of sense, ‘Chito’ is already booked to face Mario Bautista next month.
Though the winner or loser of that fight could be a potential opponent, the likes of Rob Font or Henry Cejudo aren’t bad options either.
Zahabi has sneakily continued to climb the ladder with six consecutive wins and though the scorecards were controversial, he put on a great fight with Jose Aldo.