BIGGER THAN ME PODCAST
154. Aiemann Zahabi: How to Develop Mental Toughness & Defy the Odds with a UFC Fighter
Aiemann Zahabi reveals how to develop grit and determination, the spiritual and physical benefits of observing Ramadan, his impressive 4-fight winning streak in the UFC, and his latest endeavour with a new YouTube channel.
Aiemann Zahabi is a Canadian bantamweight fighter in the UFC, celebrated for his string of early first-round victories and as the sibling of Tristar Gym's famed head coach, Firas Zahabi.
"ChristiTutionalist Politics" podcast. Weekly (weekends) News/Opinion-cast from...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Aiemann Zahabi reveals how to develop grit and determination, the spiritual and physical benefits of observing Ramadan, his impressive 4-fight winning streak in the UFC, and his latest endeavour with a new YouTube channel.
Aiemann Zahabi is a Canadian bantamweight fighter in the UFC, celebrated for his string of early first-round victories and as the sibling of Tristar Gym's famed head coach, Firas Zahabi.
"ChristiTutionalist Politics" podcast. Weekly (weekends) News/Opinion-cast from...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Welcome back to another episode of the Bigger Than Me podcast. Here is your host, aaron P. He has been on the show before. I find him to be incredibly wise, insightful and an absolute wealth of knowledge. I'm speaking with the man, the myth, the legend, amon Zahabi. Amon, I missed you. I feel like we don't hang out anymore.
Aiemann Zahabi:I told you to get me out after my last fight. It took a whole month here.
Aaron Pete:Okay, for people who don't know you, would you mind just really briefly introducing yourself?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, so I fight in the UFC. I just fought recently actually a month ago and I won again. I beat an undefeated fighter, someone who was never lost, which was a big accomplishment for me, especially that everybody counted me out, so I was really happy with that performance.
Aaron Pete:And I've gotten to win four fights in a row in the UFC and now I've become a YouTuber. Yes, there's lots to talk about, lots to catch up on.
Aiemann Zahabi:Maybe let's start with the mindset of going in to fight somebody undefeated. Yeah, I mean, uh, it was interesting because I I saw when I watched the tape of him fight you know I look for the holes and his weaknesses and stuff like that and I just feel like a lot of people they just focus on his positives and they don't see the weaknesses. So everyone was kind of doubting me because I have two losses and this guy has none, and I've won three straight in the ufc. He's won three straight in the ufc so obviously he should win. So they're just going off numbers and statistics. But that's not why we play the game right. You know statistics don't judge who's gonna win. You know you gotta go in there and play it right. That's why a lot of times you have these great, uh like underdog stories where the underdogs win because they don't know what's inside here and they don't know what's inside your heart too. So it was interesting to go there as an underdog.
Aiemann Zahabi:At one point I was after round one. I was like minus 1200, I'm sorry, plus 1200. So I was the underdog. So, yeah, plus. So which is?
Aaron Pete:huge man, huge, yeah, very disrespectful, like uh.
Aiemann Zahabi:So it was nice to to prove everybody wrong. And uh, you know, when it was training camp, I just put the blinders on. I believed in myself and I believed in my team and what we were doing and I brought in some, you know, world-class fighters to help me and I just got ready and I knew that people's opinions don't fight for the guy. Nobody intercedes for him. In the end, it's just me and him. You know that's.
Aaron Pete:The only thing that matters is how we fight how do you develop the mental fortitude to not let this undefeated streak get into your head of like well, he's undefeated, he can't lose. How do you make sure that those I don't know demons don't get into your head?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, it's not easy. It's an easy job to fall into, that for sure. But one of the things that I do is I watch my opponent's fight and then I watch one of mine, then I watch the next one of his, and then I watch one of mine and I'm watching him, but I'm also watching his opponents. And so, like, what me and for us will do is we'll be like, okay, well, he's scoring these strikes or these takedowns because his opponents are doing what. What are they doing that are giving up the takedown or allowing him to land the strikes? And then we watch my tape and we see, oh, but I don't react the way they react in these situations and what can I do to double down and make sure that I don't get hit the way they got hit and how? What can I do to avoid the takedowns that they gave up?
Aiemann Zahabi:So we also look at it from perspective of what was why? Why did he win? Like, what was so bad about his opponents? Or what mistakes did they make? And then we try to realize, okay, did he win because he forced them to make an error? Or or his opponents, uh, making errors on their own? So we take that into consideration too. So there are different layers on preparing yourself for a fight. You can't just focus on the guy you're fighting, but you have to take a look at why he won the fights against those opponents. And then we come to the realization.
Aiemann Zahabi:Oh, I don't do a lot of the habits that these guys do. I don't do the mistakes they do and for me, if you don't force an error, there's very little chance I'm going to give up an error, whereas some of the guys he fought they gave up a lot of errors and then they spiraled out of control and it's not my personality or my characteristic or my style of fighting to do what they did. You know, I'm much more conscientious of the time elapsed in the fight and I'm much more of a ring general. So, like I, have strength that these opponents didn't have and that helped me build the confidence to go in there.
Aaron Pete:You're like my life guru. I have a follow-up specific question to that. I'm wondering how transferable that mindset of looking at your opponent's errors and maybe where their weaknesses lie applies to regular people. And what I mean by that is, like so often, I find that we struggle with our own self-confidence. We go I'm not very good at that and I could be better at this, but we don't really go. How could I be better than the colleague that I'm working next? Like how could I improve? Not in like a malicious, like that person sucks and I'm better than them, but like how can I bring more to the table? How much?
Aiemann Zahabi:do you think is transferable in regards to looking at your opponent's weaknesses? It's super transferable, for sure, because you need to be able to be strong where your opponents are weak or the person you're competing against is weak, but also you have to strengthen your game where you're strong as well. So, because you want to do better than they do where they're bad, but they also have strengths, and you have to strengthen your game where you're strong as well. So, because you want to do better than they do where they're bad, but they also have strengths, and you have to outdo them there as well, right? So that's why, like uh, there's a really good quote.
Aiemann Zahabi:I like uh if it's really specific for fighting, but I think it works in a lot of different things. It's offense and defense are the two blades of the same pair of scissors. Okay, so, like, without both blades, you can't use the scissors. And the same thing with fighting. Like, you can be really good on offense, but if you've got no defense, you're gonna get cooked. Like you might beat certain guys, but you can't beat everybody. And if you've only got really good defense, you may not be able to finish somebody. You know, you may not be able to go out there, take the win, because in some fights you have to take it and in some fights you know it's given to you, right? So you need that balance of offense and defense always working together. And it's the same thing with strengths and weaknesses. So you need to obviously outdo them in their weaknesses, but you need to also crush them in their strengths too, right? You have to find a way to outplay them as much as possible and, at the same time, cover your weaknesses so that you don't get outplayed.
Aiemann Zahabi:And it's really interesting that when you talk about work and stuff like that, or competing against another business or another company or another employee, it doesn't have to be so direct the competition, right. It's more like we each have our own lane and we're each trying to climb this ladder, right, and we're being judged independently, especially if we're working for the same company. You don't need to be head head to head in malicious competition. And there's another quote actually, I just saw the other day whereas a lot of times your competition, they end up dying from suicide. They don't get killed by you. They end up having their own errors, right.
Aiemann Zahabi:So sometimes all you have to do is don't worry about other people, like you know, the horses, when they run really fast because they have the blinders on, they don't see the other horses, they don't get distracted. Sometimes all you need to do is keep the blinders on yourself and work on your game, work on your game, work on your game, especially if you're like competing against someone in the same business. Don't sabotage them, don't attack them, don't go, you know, and then that way, if they create, if they make an error on their own, bob, you, you, you skyrocket right, you jump 10 steps ahead of them.
Aaron Pete:That's one thing I feel like we do see quite a bit within the ufc. Specific like within fighting specifically is somebody will go, oh, that person's not very good at wrestling. Like, think of sean o'malley. Like, oh, maybe he's not good at wrestling, so I'm gonna try and wrestle him, and then they kind of they lose what brought them to the dance to begin with. Maybe they are a great striker, but they're not at, maybe, sean O'Malley's level. So then they kind of just try and go in and go well, this is what's what he's not good at. So I'm just gonna hone in on that and it's almost an error because you don't do what brought you to the game. I think Michael Chandler has received some of that criticism of like he he's a great wrestler but he never uses his wrestling because he loves. He loves that, that gritty element of the sport, he likes putting on exciting fights, and so it's hard to find that balance. Do you find that struggle as well?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, of course we're all struggling with that. That's the difference between winning and losing, you know. And, uh, it's, it's interesting because you know when you, when you're striking, when you're doing, let's say like we talk specifically about striking okay, and like when you, when you have a new student and you're teaching them how to box and how to kick box and how to do all that stuff, um, you know, you teach them certain rules of the game, general thumbnails. You know thumb, like rules of thumb. I mean, these are general rules on thumb and they have to follow. Keep your hands up, keep your chin down.
Aiemann Zahabi:Uh, never circle to the power side, always circle to the weak side. You can give them all these different rules to protect them, to cocoon them. You give them these parameters. But as they level up in the game and they attain a certain level of mastery of the different skills, you get to play outside those rules, outside those parameters, almost like you don't need the parameters.
Aiemann Zahabi:Like, if you watch my fight, this last one, I circled to the power side almost the entire fight, you know, and I guess every key line, the plan was to circle towards the power side. Sometimes I I prepare so well to counter their, their, their best strike or their most powerful strike, and I want to basically egg them on like, oh yeah, I'm gonna go to your power strikes, just throw it. I dare you, please, please. I got there. I dare this guy to please take his best shot, because I have it ready, I have the answer ready. And one of the things for this fight with uh, with uh, sorry, with javid bashar I had a blank there for a moment with javid bashar, he takes all his opponents down and or, watching his fights, my brother said, well, he always takes them down.
Aiemann Zahabi:But what happens to him if he can't score the takedown? Will he crumble, will he run out of gas? Because to be able to do what he does to the other guys he fought when he got that takedown, it gave him a break to be able to sustain the footwork he has on his feet, because the way he bounces around it costs a lot of energy, so it's inefficient. It's a lot of in and out, stepping in and out, maintaining range, maintaining range, maintaining range in and out, take, take, take in and out, in and out. It's a lot of work. So when he scores that takedown, opponent is exhausted from taking the damage, from being out-wrestled, from being out-grappled. So we haven't seen a fight where we just fight standing. So one thing we were prepared for was we have to make sure our footwork.
Aiemann Zahabi:There's a plan implemented that he cannot score an easy takedown. There is no such thing as an easy takedown. And you see, in round two when he finally decided to shoot, he decided to shoot. He missed the first one. He got frustrated, started walking me down and that's when I started hitting him and he shot again. He missed the second one. Then he shot a third one. He was, he was scrambling in his mind and he shot. That's why I feel like I forced an error on him eventually, because he got frustrated, he got emotional, I didn't. It's that's what his deterioration also started from within. Then I had to up on it and near the end of round two, you see, he was getting so frustrated he kept walking in and throwing strikes and I landed on one strike that dropped him to one knee. So that's how I ended up winning round two. So sometimes they can do an error on their own or you can force an error upon them. So that's kind of part of the whole strategy building game.
Aaron Pete:Okay, I want you to be honest with me. I need an honest moment out of you. Yeah, how, when you're looking at your opponent, how much do you know that you're better than them? Like, how confident is that? Going into fight week, everybody's like I'm gonna take them, I'm gonna destroy them, I'm the man. But it's like, how much of that is real? How confident are you when you look at the tape? Do you go, oh, I'm going to eat you for breakfast here?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I mean when I was undefeated, that was me every single fight, and after I lost my first one, it wasn't as easy. I was struggling early. But now this last fight was the first one I was like I got this. I had won three straight and not one of those three where I was like it's for sure I could do it. That's like 100. It's always like I could win, I could do it. And this one, warming up, I felt like everything has culminated to this point where I am at my best now, and it took 20 years, so we figured it out and then we put it all together and now I just feel like, if they can't force an error out of me, I'm going to win. I just have to be myself. And I finally reached that point of acknowledgement of my own skills and my own abilities that I have the confidence I can go out there and beat anybody.
Aaron Pete:And how much did it play in when you're seeing those odds? I've heard it said that like fighters can be sensitive about those things and I know like lots of people uh say, oh, I think this person's gonna win, and then that can be like I like I don't want to come on your show. I know ariel hawani infamously doesn't like making picks because that can actually offend fighters and go like why would I come on your show if you're betting against me, if you think I'm not gonna win? So how much? How much does that play into your mindset? Does it have a negative impact? Sounds like you had a really good mindset going into it, but those odds they can eat away at you.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I didn't know the actual numbers, I just knew I was an underdog because you know, like there was a whole, the whole thing about James Krause and his team maybe fixing fights and stuff. So basically the UFC sent out an email saying that fighters and their friends and family can't bet on the fights, right? So, like nobody around me tells me the numbers because I don't want to get in trouble. So, like I told everybody, if anybody's I don't know about anything about betting, I don't want to get in trouble with the UFC or like the commissions or anything like that. So nobody around me tells me numbers which is good, because they do hurt emotionally right.
Aiemann Zahabi:So I knew that I was an underdog, but I didn't know by how much. And I think the most offended was Firas. Firas could not believe how big the numbers were. He was shocked, he took offense. He took big offense to it, but me, I'm just happy to prove everyone wrong.
Aaron Pete:That's fantastic. Do you think that that's also applicable to other people? Like I find that I do better when I start to think of the naysayers, the people who didn't think I was going to graduate high school, the people that thought I was going to join a gang. I get fuel from thinking that people don't believe in me and I feel like that's a certain percent, and then believing in yourself is also a certain percent, but that having the naysayers is almost key to wanting to go out and prove them wrong.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I agree, I think it's great fuel, but you know, some people let it crush them. Some people use it as fuel, so it's it's either one person or the other, but me I use it as fuel. Well, yeah, we doubled up on the cardio because in his three wins in the UFC he won decisions in all of them. So we thought, more likely than not, we're going to go all the way, the whole 15. So instead of doing because normally what I do is I do like a martial arts practice and then I have a second martial arts practice and then I do my conditioning five, six days a week. So this time for us I said no, we're going to do your martial arts practice days a week. So this time for us said no, we're gonna do your martial arts practice, conditioning, then another practice and then another conditioning. So I was doing conditioning like you wouldn't believe, like it was crazy the amount of times I was right and like people were freaking out. People like what are you training for? What's going on here? Like I don't think we've ever done it that hardcore. And I'm happy because it paid off, because you see, in round three he gassed man and I didn't gas. He gassed and the commentators are saying in round one that they did an interview with him on like the during the week and he thought that the reason why I don't throw a lot of strikes it's because I'm afraid to gas. I don't not throw a lot of strikes, I'm afraid to gas. I don't throw a lot because I'm efficient.
Aiemann Zahabi:If you look at the numbers after that fight, he threw like 50 or 60 strikes more than me, but I outstruck him, I out. I landed more strikes than him, so I landed like 52 of my strikes. He landed like 28. So, yeah, you're throwing all this, all these strikes, but you're not scoring, brother, you gotta score. In the end you gotta score. And the number one criteria to win a fight is who does the most damage. And he's hitting and moving and running and touching and going. He's playing tight. I'm not. I was looking, like you can tell by his strikes. There were thumps and I was looking to put him out. I was looking to put him out.
Aaron Pete:Fascinating. And so how do you feel after that win? You're the man. What's the next step after that?
Aiemann Zahabi:Well, I felt amazing, amazing. It felt really, really good. You know, I'm still living it, I'm still high from the fight, like I still feel like things are going really, really well. And uh, the ufc was happy with the outcome too, I think. I think everybody was happy, like the fight was a really good fight is what I mean. And uh, I decided you know what, it's time I gotta start a youtube channel. So you know it was ramadan, it's not ramadan right now. Still it's almost finished. And uh had a lot of free time in the day so I was like googling, youtubing how to do this stuff and how to, you know, buy the right equipment and and film videos and do the editing and figuring all that stuff out. So I'm only training at night, so in the daytime I've just been preoccupied with setting up my socials and really like trying to expand my, my presence in the in the social media realm brilliant.
Aaron Pete:I want to get into get into that, but I just want to ask do you have a next fight that you imagine for yourself? Do you know what that next step looks like for you?
Aiemann Zahabi:I'm hoping it's something like in the top 15 would be great, that would be nice. And for me I think September would be really good. September, october, because Ramadan, like you know, I'm not, like you know, through a monkey wrench in my physical shape. You know, like I'm not in the best shape right now. I'm only training once a day. I'm not eating the best because I'm not drinking or eating all day, so I'm pigging out at night. And then I got to recover from that. I got to start training again, get back into the routine of things and just sharpen my skills back up to what they were and I can be ready for like the fall, can be ready for like the fall.
Aaron Pete:I have a cursory understanding of Ramadan. Would you mind explaining it for people who might not know?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, so basically we don't eat from sunrise to sunset and no water, no food, nothing. And it's really interesting, it's a it's a very humbling experience because you know, like we've spoken about fasting in the past before together, the difference between Ramadan and the other type of fasting is that when you fast for like weight loss and stuff, you're drinking water all day, you can have your black coffee, you can have some sodium, some electrolytes in your water, but when you're drinking no liquids, we have no liquids and no food. It's a different type of hunger and you get, like these different types of headaches from the dehydration. And then when you sit down to have your meal, there's no but more appreciation for grocery stores, fast food, the ovens, fridges everything tastes amazing. You know, you, we take it for granted how easy it is to snack and drink all day and there's nothing that makes you more grateful to have the you know, the ability to eat and drink whenever you want. The comforts of the West are amazing.
Aaron Pete:What is the religious belief behind it? What brings it about?
Aiemann Zahabi:Basically, it's to keep you humble, to keep your head on the swivel, because when people start making a lot of money or start moving up in the world, they have a lot of these comforts. They forget what it's like to have them taken away. So it's mandatory for all of us who practice uh islam to fast during ramadan. And it's to to humble you, to remember that there are people out there still today, while you have the comforts, while you have the money, they can't afford food, they don't have a pair of shoes, they don't have clothes, they don't have homes to live in. And it's a time for where you tell the stories of the prophets, also during this time of ramadan. So you get to hear a lot about their, their life stories, and it's also humbling because a lot of the prophets started with nothing. You know they weren't born kings. The prophets, a lot of them, were poor. So you get to hear all these stories, even though you know the Prophet Muhammad has.
Aiemann Zahabi:There's a story about him and he's walking in the middle of the night during Ramadan and he sees a couple of his companions strolling the night because they're sorry, the evening just before they break their fast. So they haven't broken their fast and they're hungry. So they're just walking around and just keeping their mind busy and avoiding cheating and eating something. And they're asking him how is your fast going? He says, you know it's going well. I'm just out for a walk and they're talking, chit-chatting or whatever. And he asked them how was yours?
Aiemann Zahabi:And then they show him that they had the stones tied around their bellies with ropes to squish against their belly so that they don't feel their hunger pains. And, uh, they ask him how he, how he's doing, and he shows them he's got two stones. He's got two stones tied around his waist. So it's just, it's just interesting to see how, like, even then, they suffered. You, prophet Muhammad, is the most revered prophet and he suffered during Ramadan. And if he's suffering, why can't we suffer? Why can't we take the time out to suffer? And he was leading the empire, right. So we should all take a chance and humble ourselves for this time and to remember that not everyone can afford food and water and clothes and homes and all these things.
Aaron Pete:That's incredible. Do you have any other stories that you like from the prophets?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, but I love the story of Noah. Actually, the Islamic version has like a small little twist. A little bit of a difference is that when it's time to get on the boat, noah tells his wife and son to come on and write, to go on with the animals and everyone who's gonna believe in God and get on the ship. And his son refuses and his wife refuses, and Noah and asks God to change their minds. And God says no, I can't change their minds. They have free will. You know, it's their choice. They either come on the ship by their own will or they do, they don't. And so they decide, decide not to, and, uh, they don't go on the boat and they die.
Aiemann Zahabi:And it's a really interesting story because I like I tell this story to my kids every ramadan. It's because, in the end, if they choose to follow god, it's up to them. I I'm gonna do my best to teach them what I know and what I learned, but their relationship with God is theirs, on their own, you know. And same thing for my wife, same thing for everybody. So you can't go around trying to force people to do what you believe. You just teach them what you know and what you understand, and if they take it, great. If they don't take it, that's on them.
Aaron Pete:It seems like you've also incorporated that. In one of our previous conversations you talked about helping people lose weight, and if they don't participate at a certain point, it's like I can't train you anymore, Because if you're not going to agree to the path, then I'm not going to take responsibility for the lack of success you're seeing.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, exactly, not going to take responsibility for the lack of success you're seeing. Yeah, exactly, I mean, the choice is yours. All we have is free. Will you have nothing else? Then nothing is in your control, nothing. You have absolutely no control. The only thing you can control is your decisions and your attitude about how you take things right. That's all you got. So if you're not on board with my plan to make you lose weight and I know this plan works, that's life man you go on your own. I go on my own. I. There's no amount of money that you're gonna pay me that's gonna make me take the money and just try to motivate you. I can't motivate you. It is what it is. You know the same thing for religion, you know. I teach what I can if you're not down for it, and it is what it is I know you're you're mr philosophy, so I'm just curious what are your thoughts on?
Aaron Pete:on sam harris and his perspectives that there is no free will?
Aiemann Zahabi:Listen, I'm not a PhD neuroscientist like him, but he's debated Muslim scholars and other people before and you know they've made fun of him for his take especially on Islam and things like that. So, like I wouldn't have the skills to debate him in that sense, but it's something that we all feel you sense, but it's something that we all feel you know, it's something that we all feel in the end, uh, you know, for example, you could take someone and kidnap them and beat them and do all those things to them, like, let's say, like the people in um, the people in auschwitz, let's say, the people who got killed and murdered by, uh, the nazis, right, one of the people that they had in those camps was, uh, victor frankel and he wrote a book. It's called the man's search for meaning and he talks about it and he's like, look, they took everything from us our families, our homes, our money, our clothes. They sleep us 21 people on a little cramped bed, everyone's sleeping sideways and on top of each other. They feed us nothing but like warmed up water with little bits of vegetables, like nothing, nothing. They're giving them literally the bare minimum of everything, but yet every day they decide to wake up and do the work that is asked of them.
Aiemann Zahabi:Why? Why do they get up and why are they slaves to these nazis? So why do they dig the dig the trenches? Why did they build the railroads? Why did they help do whatever it is the Nazis made them do? Why didn't they just say, yeah, you know what, put me in the gas chamber, man, give me a couple of bullets in the back of my head. Why didn't they just say that? Why didn't they just quit? What is it about us human beings? What is it that we have that makes us keep going?
Aiemann Zahabi:And he talks about the answers in that book and, uh, one of them, one of the answers, is love, you know, the hope of seeing being reunited with your wife or your children or your loved ones. And, and then the other answer is, like you know, seeing that this is not the end and and um, and accepting that there will be something greater after all of this right, something more than this, something more that you can come up after this on the other side. I haven't read the book in years, but I remember he has like two beautiful points about that, you know. And then so, like it's hard for me to, I can never debate this. I don't know it well enough, but I know that those stories from that book and things like that that really made me feel like free will is really the only thing we can believe in, right?
Aaron Pete:I have to take personal accountability to you. I, I, I did not do the three day fast. I tried, I tried, I tried twice.
Aiemann Zahabi:Okay, okay, I have another. I have another couple of motivating assets here for you. Knuckle sandwiches.
Aaron Pete:I, I. So I of motivating assets here for you Knuckle sandwiches. So what my plan was, this was the vision, and we'll get there. We're going to do this. This is going to happen. The vision now that I had was I was leading up to today and I was going to have you on and I was going to eat my first meal during the interview. That was how it all set up. And then I got to yesterday or the the night before, and I couldn't think. Clearly I had such a horrible headache. So I have such sympathy for people going through ramadan because I couldn't.
Aaron Pete:I think it might have been caffeine withdrawals, but I I had so much. I had a meeting to go to and I couldn't think straight and I was like I don't want to quit, amon's gonna call me out, he's gonna threaten my. And I was like I don't want to quit, amon's going to call me out, he's going to threaten my life.
Aaron Pete:But I want to get through this. I want to force myself through this. I know it's possible. It's just mental fortitude and I hit it and I just couldn't think straight and I had to go to this meeting and I broke it and I knew I was going to disappoint. You say it's gonna happen. We hit the two-day mark. It was, it was easy two days, but we didn't hit the three days and so I disappointed you and I just wanted to take personal accountability no, no, no problem, no problem.
Aiemann Zahabi:But tell me so you've been fasting regularly now, or what?
Aaron Pete:yeah. So I've always been like. For the past couple of years I've done like one meal a day for the most part and just doing it that way, and so two days did almost right after we did our interview I was like, oh, he's got me all hyped up, I'm going to do this. And then I hit that two-day point and then I just broke it out of laziness. But the one yesterday was just pure.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't think straight, and so my new strategy is, as you mentioned, you can do black coffee or caffeine pills, and so I think it might've been caffeine withdrawals that hit me and I just couldn't get over that lapse. So I think the next one I'm going to be more prepared. The next time you come on, I'm going to be having a having a meal.
Aiemann Zahabi:You should, man. Yeah, black coffee doesn't break your fast Cause it doesn't spike your insulin. You can have things that don't spike your insulin Then. Then you'll be okay.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, I hit that point and then I had huge admiration. I know some people who are going through Ramadan and I was eating a breakfast wrap in front of them and they were like what are you doing, you monster? And I was like, okay, okay, I'm sorry, my mistake, turned off the camera.
Aiemann Zahabi:You should try a dry fast one day. It's interesting. It's an interesting feeling, man. It's an interesting feeling.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, that's no water or anything, right yeah?
Aiemann Zahabi:What would you say?
Aaron Pete:the difference is from having water and having no water Well the dehydration, so you get that headache really early on.
Aiemann Zahabi:Oh, no yeah you got to deal with it all day. But you know you're supposed to still be nice, which is not easy, right, because you're cranky and you're tempered and all this and it's a real test. It's a real test. It's a real test of character.
Aaron Pete:That is a really good lesson to have to avoid that, because you have to be careful on how you communicate, and it is a lesson in humility and understanding and patience. Yeah, the YouTube channel. What made you get really excited about starting it?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, yeah, you know like, uh, a lot of people around me, uh, you've always been telling me that you know you should do your own channel. You speak well, you answer questions, well, maybe you can do your own thing. So I was like, yeah, okay. And then after this win it was such a good win for my career and I just feel so established wins in the UFC than I had before the UFC Sorry, more fights, not wins, but more fights in the UFC than I had before. So I was like you know what I'm established. Now I have credibility. I lived it, I've done it. So I just feel like I have enough credibility now to go on there on socials and on YouTube and give my opinions. A lot of people say I had it already, but now, just mentally for myself, I just feel like I've accomplished enough to give back to the community much more.
Aaron Pete:Now, what's the pitch? What's unique about your youtube channel? What are people tuning in for?
Aiemann Zahabi:well, the first thing I started with is I'm gonna start doing like watch parties and live streams. So tune in to ufc 300. I'm gonna have a watch party here in the house with my wife, louis sanadakis and jordan deichler we're gonna have first time we're to have four people on, so we're going to be analyzing the fights and giving an alternate commentary, because not everybody likes the commentary that UFC provides. So this is another way to watch the fights and get commentary from fighters and also my wife, who I call the casual, because you know, what's great about my wife being on the show is that she doesn't know everything about MMA, right, she's like the mainstream person, so she asks a lot of questions that people are too shy to ask when they're in the room with fighters Because that's such a dumb question.
Aiemann Zahabi:But my wife, she's a casual. We all know she's a casual, so it's all good if she asks. And the people that follow, who watch the live stream, they appreciate her questions because they might be thinking to ask that, but they're embarrassed to ask me in the chat. So she brings like a really good angle and plus she's funny and things like that. So it's great. And then on top of that I'm gonna have another phase where I'm gonna be doing like technique videos. So I'm gonna teach her, you know, different facets of martial arts and how to do them successfully in fight situation, not just like the fluffy stuff people teach you but you never actually could use. I'm gonna use like fight level skills will be taught on my youtube channel and I'm going to have another uh type of video where I can do like reaction videos and stuff like that and like analyzing fights it's always cool to see somebody step out and try something new.
Aaron Pete:What has been the biggest challenge in starting this youtube channel?
Aiemann Zahabi:oh man, going through all the youtube videos to figure out how to do like, use my obs, get my mic and everything synced up, make sure I have like, let's see, like now you see my wall. But like now I finally figured out how to use my green screen. Again I'm getting a green screen so you don't see my back, you just see me, and that's when I'm imposed on a video. I don't obstruct anything. So just learning the skills of the trade and then dealing with the youtube suppression right now.
Aiemann Zahabi:Youtube suppression, like because I don't have a lot of followers as subscribers. I mean like when you type in my name, my channel doesn't come up. Like my channel comes in like the fourth page right because I have interviews with like you and channels and they have a lot of views. So I'm getting cracked by my own interviews on other people's shows. So it's pretty funny. So I have to make sure I send people the link or I tweet my link or I put on Instagram the link so people can find me, because nobody can find me on YouTube right now. So I feel like eventually, as I build a following, it'll snowball.
Aaron Pete:What's the channel actually called?
Aiemann Zahabi:Called Aman Zahabi Official. I had it originally Aman Zahabi and it was hell to find me. I added official because, like on my interviews and stuff, official is not there. So I tried to like make it so that it's easier to find Slightly easier, but not much easier.
Aaron Pete:Right and what has been your favorite part of starting it like? What have you grown the most in or what do you look most forward to in doing this?
Aiemann Zahabi:I'm excited to chat with the fans and, uh, get into some more dialogue in the comment. In the comments, you know like I'm interested to, like I love the lives, like the watch party that's my favorite right now because, like, I like to chit chat with the people, like when they in, I like to answer their questions as the fights are happening. If they ask me what the fighter could do, I can tell them right away Things that people are interested in, whereas when you listen to on Pay-Per-View or on the Sportsnet you don't have a dialogue with the commentary booth. It's hard for Joe Rogan to explain it to you while the triangle is happening or the escapes are happening or whatever. But in the chat you can ask me specifically about what's going on and during my commentary and my analysis I can respond to you personally. So I feel like that's a really nice touch and I'm excited to do that with more people.
Aaron Pete:Are you going to do any interviews, because I think you'd be very interesting to get other fighters' perspectives on things.
Aiemann Zahabi:So yeah, I'm planning on it. I just haven't decided what the format is gonna be. So like I want to interview them, but like kind of like you, in the sense where, like I don't want to just talk about, you know, the superficial stuff, I want to get into something more in depth, but I haven't found my that angle yet. So once I find my angle, I'm going to start, but I haven't figured out the questions yet.
Aaron Pete:I don't know if the name philosophy of fighting has started, but I feel like that's right up your alley.
Aiemann Zahabi:Thank you, man. I appreciate it. My brother's going to fight me for that one. I'm sure we call him the philosopher king.
Aaron Pete:Oh, interesting, and do you think he's going to be attending in any of your videos or anything like that?
Aiemann Zahabi:I'm hoping so. You know like eventually I'm just trying to build up my skills for YouTube now, before I have a big fish like my brother on.
Aaron Pete:Right.
Aiemann Zahabi:Because you know he's got like 250,000 subscribers. So I want to be good and then I'll get him on. You know, I'm hoping to get GSP on too, and all the other guys from the gym, things like that. I'm hoping to get GSP on too, and all the other guys from the gym, things like that. But I want to attain a certain level of skills and mastery of what I do before I bring in some heavy hitters.
Aaron Pete:That's exactly how I felt when I started Start local, start small, figure out the little things, figure out the thumbnails, figure out the audio and all of that, and then look outwards.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, because first impressions matter. Like if I have my brother on and everything runs smoothly and good and he gets a, you know it goes well and we get good feedback. I'm sure he's going to love to be on the second time. But if I'm all clunky this and that, even though we're family, let me tell you something man. That guy's busy, you know, it is what it is.
Aiemann Zahabi:So, I really want to the other channels that they would go on Brilliant and anything else big coming up. No, not yet, man, just more YouTube for now. More YouTube and like, oh, I might. Actually my sweet brother-in-law just bought me a nice PlayStation 5, which he surprised me with, so maybe I might do a little Twitch thing. We're going to see.
Aaron Pete:That's a possibility. Amazing. No trips planned or anything like that yet.
Aiemann Zahabi:Well, I'm going to Dubai actually yeah, I didn't even think of it. I'm going to Dubai April 15th. Man, I'm going to Dubai because one of my fighters, one of my friends, saeed Yakub Kakramanov he's actually one of the guys I brought in for training camp for this last fight and he's fighting karate combat. He's fighting a guy named Y2K Fairtex, who's got 300 fights in Muay Thai, and he's fighting him April 20th and yeah, so I'm going to be there April 15th, april 22nd.
Aaron Pete:Fantastic. That sounds like it's going to be a blast. Have you ever been there before?
Aiemann Zahabi:I've never been. I'm actually trying to set up a seminar now so I can hopefully teach over there. One of my friends has a gym out there, so I'd love to teach somewhere now at his gym. Nordin, I messaged you on Instagram. Answer back yeah, so I'd love to be on that and get to meet some of the people there. See the sites. I'm really excited to visit the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi as well, so I might take a trip over there. I'm really excited to go visit.
Aaron Pete:That sounds fantastic. Eamon, it's always a pleasure to sit down with you. Thank you. You get me all excited. You get me motivated to get back in the gym and start working hard. I always appreciate your insights. I highly recommend people go check out your YouTube channel. I just think you're such a valuable voice on how we can develop personally, so kudos to you for starting that.
Aiemann Zahabi:Thank you and I appreciate you man. I appreciate you having me on all the time and doing such great interviews. Thank you, guys.
Aaron Pete:No problem, please don't beat me up in the near future, I'm going to do the fast, don't worry Please.