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Get inspired by people who make a difference bigger than themselves with host Aaron Pete. From overcoming obstacles to finding motivation, these guests will inspire you to dream bigger and strive for greatness!
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197. Aiemann Zahabi: How He Beat Jose Aldo with GSP in His Corner
UFC Bantamweight fighter Aiemann Zahabi joins Aaron Pete to break down his shocking win over Jose Aldo at UFC 315 in Montreal. They discuss how coach Firas Zahabi and Georges St-Pierre (GSP) guided his mindset, the controversy around Aldo’s weight miss, overcoming superstitions, and building a rock-solid mental game.
This week's guest just shook up the world with a win against Jose Aldo on May 10th in Montreal, canada, for UFC 315. We explore his big win, his mindset and what the future holds for this bantamweight contender. My guest today is the king of Montreal, mr Amon Zahabi. Amon, it's so good to have you back on. Anything new been going on? What's what's new with you these days? I just beat Jose Aldo. You just destroyed. You just showed out for Canada. Congratulations to you. I am so happy for you. I was on the edge of my seat. I was telling everybody that I had you. I put the money on you. I'm so happy for you. Congratulations, good sir. Thank you, I put the money on you. I'm so happy for you. Congratulations, good sir.
Aiemann Zahabi:Thank you, man. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know a lot of haters after the fight, a lot of doubters before, but you know, the story continues. I'm excited now to move on to the next one.
Aaron Pete:Oh, I was so mad when I first saw the reaction to the fight. Some people were like, oh, give, give Jose Aldo an easier fight, Like he needs to like a retirement fight or something. And I was like this is a tremendous fight, I'm so excited for this. And then, and then you succeed. You overcome so much adversity, which we'll get into in a minute, and then still still people are like, oh, what about this, what about that? And it's like just celebrate the man for the absolute victory and how you showed your heart in that fight. I'm just, I couldn't be more happy for you.
Aiemann Zahabi:Thank you, man. You know that's exactly how I feel in the end. It's like the ones who are upset are more like either casuals or people who I ruined their parlays or their bets or something like that. But you know, all the true fighters are all happy that I ended up getting my hand raised. You know, the story just makes the most sense.
Aaron Pete:I couldn my hand raised. You know the story just makes the most sense. I couldn't agree more. I come to you for sage advice, wisdom. I find you have a really good philosophy on things. I put you and corey sanhagen right there with, like your insights on the game, on how you take fighting and apply it to life, and it's just something I really admire and I'm always excited to speak with you about. And you talked a lot about working with a mental coach, uh, and some of the superstitions that you had. So I'm wondering if you can talk about choosing to work with a mental coach, how that decision came about and and how you find somebody who's maybe the right fit to work with you about your mental game yeah, well, I hired the mindset Mike because my friend suggested it for me.
Aiemann Zahabi:Like, listen, I gotta coach for everything else, right? So why not have a coach for the mind? Because, in the end, the final piece is the mindset right. When you get to the top 15, everyone's well conditioned, everyone's got skills, everyone's got their path to victory. But if I can have someone who can have me run through a system that guarantees that I'm going to be performing my best on the night, that counts. Why not take that advantage, right? So that's kind of the reasoning behind hiring him.
Aiemann Zahabi:Because you know to be great. It's about repeating that greatness over and over again. You know, if you're great one night, who cares? You got to keep repeating the greatness for people to be like, oh wow, how does he keep being great? That's what really makes people love you, right? So that's kind of like the reasons why I wanted to hire one. And so far, like the two times we worked together, I had no doubt that I was going to perform well because my mind was so clear. You know, I knew exactly what I needed to do, and especially in this last one, where I ran into some trouble near the end and I used some of the techniques to make sure that I end up on top.
Aaron Pete:One piece that you've mentioned in previous interviews was that you hit a streak if things started to go the right way. In the previous interview we did. We talked about how, like, you had hit three in a row and you were very nervous on whether or not you could keep that going or not, or or what that meant, or or how many people are able to carry that into four or five, and and what that actually looks like. And then the other piece you had mentioned was around having your family come to these that you had found the streak and then and then changing things like you don't know how much that plays a role.
Aaron Pete:How? What was the process to get over those things? Because I think we all have those in certain moments right where we we think we did it one way, so it has to be done that way again. How did you overcome that?
Aiemann Zahabi:yeah, you're right, I forgot to answer the superstition part, but uh, yeah, so there was. Like you know, obviously all athletes have their like superstitions. You're not really you're not supposed to have those right, especially like, uh, you know, as a believer, in the end it's in god's're supposed to say, right, so you shouldn't have these superstitions. But you know, I still, as an athlete, I'm part of the athletic culture, sports culture. You know we end up falling for the trap of these superstitions and my mindset coach really helped me get out of that, in the sense that one has nothing to do with the other. Right, like my wife coming to the event, how can it really affect my fight? You know, it doesn't do anything to affect my fight. The only way, the only thing is because I, you know, I care about her, I want to make sure she has a good time and all that stuff, yeah, but in the end she doesn't affect the fight.
Aiemann Zahabi:And, um, you know, doing things a certain way or winning in a streak, each fight is on its own right. Each individual fight has nothing to do with the previous or the next. It's just now and in the moment, right, so like I don't need to bring my baggage of the past into this fight and I don't need to bring the worries of the future into the fight. Right. The more I'm present, the less stress I'm actually gonna have, you know. So, like that's kind of like what helped me break my superstitions, and not having any superstitions makes you a lot more go with the flow. So that's another way to. I'm even less stressed now Because I don't need things to be perfect. I just need to be able to adapt. If you really want to be great, you adapt to every situation. There's nothing that can arise that bothers you too much. Because you're willing to adapt. You know that you're going to be able to. I have the capability to adapt, so I'm confident in myself.
Aaron Pete:We've got to get a shirt that says something like present over perfection, or something like that.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, exactly Because you know adversity is going to find you, no matter what you do. It'll come in an unsuspected way, and it's just good to have a plan to deal with it instead of hoping it never comes and there's something about that you're.
Aaron Pete:You're almost fighting yourself in those ways and having to like, let go of those instincts that it has something to do with something else, right, because so often we feel like the outcome matters on whether or not you did this or that, and and if it doesn't, then your mental game's all messed up, right, and that leaves you vulnerable to like, oh, I didn't eat my breakfast at this exact time and so now I'm not going to be as successful. Well, now you're going in thinking you're going to be less successful. So it's like, the more you're, the less you're tied to those things, the more you're able, able to just focus on performing and being in that moment. It sounds like yeah, 100% true.
Aiemann Zahabi:I don't want to be tied to anything, I want to be independent of everything, so that way I can just move as I need to move given the circumstances.
Aaron Pete:The one thing that really blew me away, and even just the response. I watched your interview with Ariel Hawani. It just feels like everybody's glossing over the fact that this guy missed weight by a very, very significant amount the day before the fight Not an insignificant amount of time before the fight. In other circumstances I feel like people would be outraged and I have a great deal of admiration and respect for Jose Aldo, but it just seems like this is just like. No, we're just going to focus on how you respond and you should be figuring like what is going on. This is just to surprise me. Usually people are off by a pound and people react, and this is like more than eight pounds that this fight got changed and the reaction has been very timid in reaction to other fighters. It's much larger.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I'm surprised that no one is being harsh on Aldo. My brother told me not to be harsh because he's never missed weight before right, so I will not attack him for it. But I find it weird like you're saying that they're attacking me in the sense that you've got to just deal with it, man. But no, I don't really have to deal with it. Actually, technically, the fight's off.
Aiemann Zahabi:You know, I'm doing ufc favor. I'm doing, you know, the fans of favor. I'm doing montreal favor. I'm taking the opportunity. I'm risking everything, man. You know like I'm risking everything and like aldo can damage me in there and for everybody, even before the fight, people tell me not to hurt him because they love him so much. It's like, you see, soccer kicked me in the head. He's trying to literally kick my head off my shoulders, you know. So I just feel like, um, he's such a global superstar that, uh, people love him that much. You know, people just love him so much and he's blessed to have that and, uh, hopefully one day people will love me that much. You know, if, hopefully, that's like that's what I want, but yeah, it is a really big deal in boxing it would never happen.
Aaron Pete:No, and you mentioned two really important pieces and again I feel like, like the response, like I don't. Can you walk me through how you came to these two pieces? You've outlined two things on multiple interviews, one that, uh, what's his name?
Aaron Pete:Uh, the the boxer, chris Eubank was on 0.05, like 0.05 pounds, and had to pay a half a million dollars. That was one example. And then the other piece was that, soldiers, when you cut that amount of weight, you lose on the performance piece, and I've never heard a fighter respond so thoughtfully to like being questioned on the. Where did you get that information and and just what was the reaction that you found to to those important statistics?
Aiemann Zahabi:well, the chris fubank jr one was all over twitter and I I like to watch, like you know, big boxing fights, you know. So that was a huge fight. It was a very historical fight because their two fathers fought, so I was interested. So when they missed the weight, I saw it and I was wondering to see what was going to happen, what the penalty would be. And it was $500,000, a lot of money, man. That is a lot of money for 0.5. No, sorry, 0.05. Oh, whatever, yeah, you know what I mean. That's like minuscule, miniscule, exactly so if you think about it, it's, it's crazy. I thought, with like over six pounds difference, right, and then the the study is because my brother's always doing research on like what's the best practices for to, to, to make sure that we we get through training camp without getting hurt and to optimize our conditioning. So my brother always tells us to make sure that we show up to practice hydrated, because every 2% of dehydration we come to practice we're going to have a reduction of performance by 6%, and if you do that every day, you're not going to be preparing at your best to have your best night on fight night. So, like my brother had done the research, just so that we can improve for the team, you know. So we can all come always well prepared for practice, so we don't get hurt or we don't underperform in the gym, so that we can perform properly. So it's stuff we already know. So, like an eight-pound difference, it's huge because I'm a lot of percentage down in water than he is. So my performance percentage is going to be way worse than his. You know I'm not going to be performing as good as he is and like I was telling the other journalists that in my opinion and I'm not saying this as an insult to him, but that although at 45 is more robust than although at 35, and I think the reason why he can withstand more damage at 45 and has better cardio and strength and all that stuff at 45, it's because he didn't have to lose nine pounds more of water. When he comes to 35, he loses another nine pounds of water. It affects his performance. That's what the whole study explains, right. So that's why he's not as performative in the 35 weight class.
Aiemann Zahabi:So when I took the fight, you know, I thought it would be more likely to break him. Yeah, at 35. So I was like, yeah, well, I'll fight Aldo. You know he's breakable at 35. At 45, you know he's a beast. He's still a beast at 35, but not as much of a beast. You know, and I'm not trying to insult him by saying that but everybody who cuts eight pounds more is more susceptible to breaking than somebody who cuts eight pounds less. If you take the same guy and you cut eight pounds less, he's more robust. That and you cut eight pounds less, he's more robust. That's just science for me. I wouldn't think of that as an insult. Basically is what?
Aaron Pete:I'm trying to say Absolutely. And then I don't know if people realize that when you're cutting to that extent, your body does start to try and conserve energy. And from what I've heard from other fighters is that when you try and start to gain that weight back, if you do that too quickly, then you start your body starts to respond negatively because it can't take in that much nutrients that quickly and you had to start to gain a ton of weight really quickly. Can you walk us through that process and and how you do something like that thoughtfully and so you can't just start eating Big Macs. You've got to be very mindful of how you gain that weight back, because it can have a negative impact on you yeah, so like, uh.
Aiemann Zahabi:So basically what happened was is that special rule in montreal? Or if there's a five pound difference, five pounds or more, excuse me, uh, the fight's off. There's no, there's no way you're putting a fight together. So I had to start drinking water during the negotiations. They wouldn't let me weigh in at 136.8, so I started rehydrating and, like I don't know if I've told you, but like on my 5-5 win streak, every one of those fights I've thrown up at the at the rehydration part, wow, like my stomach, I have a hard time with the rehydration. But this time I started, you know what? We started even slower because we got even more time. So we got that extra hour. So I started with eating like a bagel and drinking some water and I got I just made that five pound, added the five pounds that we needed so that the fight could be okay. So then we went downstairs and Frost wanted to negotiate with Sean Shelby and we ended up making a deal. So it was nice.
Aaron Pete:Interesting. I'm wondering how does it? How did you feel in that moment where you were trying to resolve that?
Aiemann Zahabi:Oh it was brutal, I was so mad.
Aaron Pete:I can't imagine. And you just think, when people go in for a job interview or something and you want it to all work out, you couldn't have imagined that these circumstances would come up. But you're trying to put on. For so many people, All of the hope and expectation is on you and like, as much as I'm sure you were willing to take that on, there's also just a piece where it's like, hey, you did your job, you were doing your job. And like, yeah, it may have been his first time not cutting weight, but like I mean, come on, that's a significant. That's not. He was a pound away, that was a significant amount and he could have alerted people far earlier, I'm guessing, than he did. And so, like it's all on you and you have to make these tough decisions and like, ultimately, when you really think it through, the damage you took, like people have to respect the fact that you were kicked in the head.
Aaron Pete:You put your body at risk your family sitting in the crowd watching you try and perform and the odds are stacked against you. Out watching you try and perform and the odds are stacked against you, like this was not an insignificant decision to make it. How did you process all of the emotions that must have come from that?
Aiemann Zahabi:yeah, well, you know well, now that you fasted for so long, you know what it is to be dehydrated a little bit. You get irritated, like when you lose all that water and you've dieted so hard, and like that. You know, from starting on t they try to eliminate carbs from my diet. I'm only eating protein. So like when I'm down at 136.8 and I get the news, I am furious because I can't control my emotions at that point. At that point I'm just so close, I'm so close to my weight that I was very upset and I try not to get emotional at all during fight week. I try to be numb to everything as much as possible. The more I'm detached emotionally, the better I will perform. So that's normally how I take it. But when I was starting to be hydrating, I started getting a much clearer head and Frost was keeping me calm and he's like okay, let's just talk about what's the biggest risk of the whole thing, of that much of a weight difference.
Aiemann Zahabi:And for me and what I told my team and the guys around me is that look, my main concern is because I'm more dehydrated than him. Will I be able to withstand the same amount of damage he can withstand or is he going to be able to take punches and kicks and knees better than I can? Because he didn't cut so low? Because you know, when you dehydrate yourself you don't choose where the water comes out. Your body flushes it out. You know pretty much equally, from everywhere you lose all the water, like you have no choice. And then when you rehydrate, I don't know what gets rehydrated first and to what extent, and like how much, of how much am I really at 100%? You know, science doesn't know that. They don't know man, they want you to hit these numbers because that means you're hydrated, because you weigh this much. But you know, is my brain going to withstand the same amount of impact as him, or am I coming in there a little bit more fragile than him? That's why I was telling you about the you know, aldo.
Aiemann Zahabi:At 45, he's more durable than he is at 35. Because you know he cut 8 pounds more to make 35. He's not going to be as durable. So I felt like what's going to happen is because we have to change the weight class to 45, you're getting an Eamon Zahabi bantam and you're getting a Jose Aldo featherweight. So I'm fighting him at featherweight but I'm a bantamweight and he's a featherweight. So I'm fighting him at featherweight, but I'm a bantamweight and he's a featherweight, so that was kind of like the biggest concern, you know. So that's why we ended up changing the game plan to a much more conservative round one than I expected. Normally the game plan was to put it on him, but we changed the game plan just to make sure that when he hits me I don't get flatlined right away, so just to feel it out for longer than expected, just to make sure that I don't get anything too surprising you got hit, uh and kicked multiple times in the face, which I just cannot imagine.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, and I'm wondering. You talked a little bit about how, like, you got to show your heart in this fight and I'm wondering what did you learn about yourself in this war? Yeah, well, you know, like I knew, I was going to show my heart in this fight and I'm wondering what did you learn about yourself in this war?
Aiemann Zahabi:yeah, well, you know, like I knew I was going to show my heart, no matter what in this fight, and if it went, if it went really well, you know I was expecting to, you know, to like punish him, you know, like get on top and ground and pound or whatever it was, or ko him. And people are going to know that I'm resilient because the game plan will start strong, strong and fight to the end. But you know, it was nice to show my heart because, you know, getting dropped in a weird way and getting soccer kicked and going through that whole ordeal, I'm actually grateful for it, man. I'm actually super grateful that it happened. And I'll tell you the first reason I'm grateful is because when I came out of the hellfire, I stayed calm, cool and collected, and when he came into the Hellfire, he fell apart, man, and he broke Physically and mentally.
Aiemann Zahabi:He fell apart and I did not, man, you know he was the one with 41 fights, he was the eight-time world champion, but when it came down to it, I was a much better nail than he was. He's only a good hammer, you know. So, like I feel like now I'm getting a lot of respect from fighters, coaches, like people in the know, people who watch the fight for real, not casuals who just you know, taking a look here and there at the screen, but people who watch that fight, who paid attention, who know what fighting is. Everyone gives me my respect now, you know. So, like I feel really good, I feel blessed that it happened the way it did. I want to thank God for keeping me awake and making sure I didn't get KO'd in that moment. And, you know, I'm proud of myself for keeping a clear head, regathering myself, making space, catching my breath and putting it on him and winning the last three minutes.
Aaron Pete:Can you just walk us through really quickly that piece, because you've said it a few times and I apologize for asking you to repeat it, but how you go about you got knocked down and you talked about how I think it was your mental coach who said first you have to like gather yourself, then the first 15 seconds. Can you walk us through that, because I love that.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah. So my mindset coach, you know we always talk about like also worst case scenario. Uh, one thing I've come to the conclusion is is that if you only think that only positive things can happen for you, you're delusional. Like adversity is coming, and it comes when you don't want it to come and, uh, you need a plan, right? So you always ask me what's your plan? You know he didn't give me the plan. He tells me what's your plan, like how would you deal with something that happens?
Aiemann Zahabi:You know, and I always tell him like, for me it's about making space, catching my breath and winning the next exchange and then winning the next 15 seconds and then winning the 15 seconds after that, and just like micro gains, until I turn the tide back in my favor.
Aiemann Zahabi:You know, that's basically how I see it, so like things are going to happen in the fights that I don't want them to happen, because there are so many balls to juggle and there are so many banana peels out there that, even though you're juggling all these balls, there's something that's going to happen. You don't, though you're juggling all these balls or something's gonna happen. You don't see, you're gonna slip and all of a sudden they're gonna go flying and you're gonna catch them all and put them all back in order, and I felt like I was able to do that against aldo and he was not able to turn things around for himself when I got going oh, it was two times from my perspective that he lost one on the scale and then one in the fight, right like yeah there were like just even you.
Aaron Pete:You pointed out that he would have better cardio and I don't know what was going on in that third round, but I didn't see any cardio coming from him on that side that he was laying down and you had him in and you were in a very dominant position. And if we were in pride rules?
Aaron Pete:that would have looked very, very different, you know. So the other piece that I just wanted to like reflect on from my perspective, that you showed some of it was circumstance, but there was a Canadian spirit there that I just saw from you. How you approached him, not meeting the weight like how you approached these challenges when the fight was put on, like you were incredibly respectful um more so than than I was to people within my friend group where I was like I do not like this.
Aaron Pete:So you were kind and thoughtful and respectful towards him throughout the process. You wanted to put on for Canada, you wanted to show out. You faced adversity and you overcame. And I don't know if you've seen this on X and on other social media platforms, but it seems like there's a big question right now, like what does it mean to be a Canadian? And the way you showed up, the way you approached conversations, just that that gave me that spirit of like that's what it means to be a canadian not running his name through social media, not complaining, not pulling out of the fight, like taking all of the challenges that you faced, absorbing it and then still showing out and being respectful and kind to everybody involved yeah, thanks, I appreciate that.
Aiemann Zahabi:You know, and, uh, you know, I'm blessed to have a strong team and have really good mentors, like for us incredible mentor, and so is george, and my mindset coach is incredible, you know, and even even my manager has a good mindset. You know my friends, my friend jordan is, you know, he's with me all the time and we have a good mindset. Everyone has a good mindset. And when we were doing the negotiations with Sean Shelby, frost took charge of the negotiations and he gave us a number and Frost was talking the terms and Frost told me he's like look, he's like, if you accept the terms, that's it.
Aiemann Zahabi:We're fighting Aldo. You know what I mean. There's no excuse about the weight. There's no shitting on aldo. There's no talking bad about him. He's never missed weight before. We have to give him his respect. He's a legend.
Aiemann Zahabi:We don't know why he missed weight. So, uh, if you decide to do it, you're allowed to speak. The facts say that there's a weight difference. Explain your side, explain the gravity of the adversity that we're facing, but he's like we're not gonna throw aldo under the bus. You know, you're facing the. You're facing this adversity. Yes, we explain for what it is.
Aiemann Zahabi:But keep all those, keep, don't, don't muddy all those name. You know, because we didn't know you know he's. You know we really don't know why he missed, you know. So it's hard to uh, you know uh talk bad about a legend like that. You know he, he paved the way for me to make a payday, like I just did, you know. And uh, in the end, because he missed the weight, I made more money, way more money than I was supposed to make. So like I benefited from it in the end too, right, so it'd be. You know I benefited from it. So now it's all good. So it's good, I'm happy. I definitely won't ruin his name now. But you know Frost has a good head on his shoulders and he told me not to do it before the fight happened or after, no matter what the outcome was.
Aaron Pete:Even the fight happened, or or after, no matter what the what the outcome was, even if I lost, he told me we accepted the terms. It is what it is and I was ready to just ready, just to do what I did. Now I know a lot of people don't have someone to lean on when they have those types of challenges, like when they have challenges come up and they need some sage advice. Again, as you were describing, you're dehydrated.
Aaron Pete:This is unexpected news you're having to take in. How does it feel to be able to have somebody to lean on in those circumstances to give you really good, thoughtful advice and kind of support you through that process and give you insights that maybe are tough to hear at first. Right, like immediately when you hear that Aldo didn't make weight and you're dealing with all these problems, part of you wants to like let's, let's, let's go, let's do a press conference. I'll break down how, like that would be my initial reaction. How does it feel to have somebody support that and then you be able to take that in as sage advice?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, like, you're right, it uh, it's, it's amazing. You know, it's really important to have, like I talk to guys all the time about, like, if you really want to make it, you need to surround yourself with a good team. You know, and uh, the the people you choose to keep around are really gonna shape your future, because you're gonna be influenced by the way they think right. So, like, my brother told me all that, but I could have told him you know what? Yeah, okay, whatever, and I still talk trash about Aldo I have to also accept what they say and also, you know, like I have to respect what they say. I can hear it, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to take their advice. I have a million fighters on my team that don't listen to what we tell them. You know it's, it is what it is, but I am open to their advice.
Aiemann Zahabi:And even when I called GSP after and I told him I accepted the terms and we told him what happened the first thing that he said was this is the best thing that ever happened to you. He's like, the story is going to be amazing when you beat Aldo and you beat him when he was overweight, and you do this and you do that, he's like everyone's going to love you. He's like, don't worry about it, we're going to go out there, we're going to beat him. So I was like, okay, man, let's go. So I was happy. You know, it's nice, like it's nice, to have people who believe in me that much and also people who guide me to do things in a way that you know, in the end they were right and I feel happy to be this guy now.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more. It has been amazing to watch people's response to you and excitement and the respect being put on your name because you deserved it the whole time. But some people are just waking up to it. You mentioned GSP and you mentioned this and I feel like this should be a headline from my perspective. He believes you could be the next champ of the bantamweight division. This is very exciting to me. I'm very happy to hear that he gave that feedback. What did that mean to you and was that just reaffirming?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, it means the world to me. You know he's been telling me that for a long time and you know I always have Frost and Neil in my corner and I always bring in a third. That depends on my opponent, and I thought this one would be a really important one to have George in, because you know, aldo is such a megastar and people are going to love him so much. I thought, you know what, let me have George's aura around me as well, and when George speaks to me, I try to listen as much as possible, and he's not the kind of guy to sugarcoat anything or to pump your tires for no reason, right? So when he tells me something, I believe him. And uh, it was.
Aiemann Zahabi:We had a really cool moment actually, uh, backstage where, uh, like I had done my warm-up, everything was done and I was waiting to walk out, but then they did the v-tour special. So when they did like the v-tour, like hall of fame announcement and video montage, they told us, okay, look, you were supposed to walk out, but we're gonna give you, we're gonna have to wait another 10 minutes. So it was like 10 minutes of dead time. So I was just pacing back and forth and, uh, just be standing there. And they were showing like, uh, you know the vtor footage and whatever. And I was just going through my head like what's gonna happen and I just smile and just be standing there and I just start pounding on his chest and I'm like George Aldo's coming out hard, boom, boom. But we're gonna be ready, boom, boom. And I'm like I'm not worried about him, boom, boom. I was just banging on his chest, I was talking to him and banging on his chest and he was like he was feeling that excitement and I can't, I can't wait for this moment, you know.
Aiemann Zahabi:And then I'm placing back some more and then they put a highlight reel of the next UFC and it's going to be Murat versus Sean O'Malley and George points at me. He's like you know, it doesn't stop here. That's where you're headed, that's where you're going. This is not your biggest fight, that's going to be your biggest fight. And he's just getting me going. He was just really revving me up and I couldn't wait for the fight and I had never been in the blue corner before. It's the first time I've ever been in the blue corner. I've never been in the octagon or in a fight. First Always come second. I've always been in the red corner. It just worked out that, but it did.
Aiemann Zahabi:And this is the first time I'm standing there in the arena and I was looking around, I was taking it all in and they were still playing my music and I was like you know what, man, this is nowhere else I'd rather be. So I turn around and I see Frost. I walk up to him and I grab him by the hand and I tell him there's no, I love this shit, I just go, I love this. I went up to Neil, I grabbed his hand. I said I love it. Then I walked over to Bruce Buffer. I shook his hand. I told him I love it. He's like, brother, you've got it. That's what Bruce Buffer told me. And I felt like, yeah, and I grabbed the referee's hand for Alvo to step into this octagon, just so we could get started. Man, I couldn't wait for it to happen. And then it was good, you know, I didn't get iced out. Actually, I used the moment to zone in even further.
Aaron Pete:I love that and it somewhat reminds me I don't know if you've seen Dan Hooker sitting in the chair and he's just in a tough first round, I think, and then he goes boys. I love this shit. And first round, I think, and then he goes boys.
Aaron Pete:I love this shit and like he's all bloodied up, his face is just destroyed and he's like soaking in that moment and it just uh, ariel talks about this a lot, but it just shows the difference between you and everybody else in the world, right, because, like in that moment I'd be scared, I'd be nervous, like I would feel like I couldn't do what you do, like I don't have that bone in my body.
Aaron Pete:That goes like when all the lights are on, when all the pressure's on you, when, when the moment's building up, I imagine I'd bet a lot of money that I'd fold like a, like a ton of bricks and and people like yourself soak that in and use that as energy and then are going into the fight even more zoned in than you were before. And I think that's really admirable, particularly again because your family's sitting right there. Like there's always those nerves, like, as you were describing, take the first round slow. You don't know how he's going to respond. Like in those moments I just I don't know how you do it and I just I find that all so admirable pressure is a privilege to have it all on my back.
Aiemann Zahabi:It's nobody else I'd rather count on. You know what I mean. I'd rather be the one taking the shot. I want to be the one in the game. I want to be the one making the decisions. I want to be the one scoring the goals. I want to be the one putting my hands on them. You know what I mean. I want that pressure. I want everything.
Aiemann Zahabi:The fact that I was in Montreal I loved it. The fact that my family, my friends, everyone gets to know me. It was a crazy, surreal feeling. People were asking me how good it felt before. Before I didn't feel that good. Honestly, it felt like nothing. It felt like nothing you know why? Because I've got to go out there and I've got to do it. I've got to go out there and I've got to win it. I've got to make it the best night of my life, or else it can also be the one in control. I'd rather be the one going out there and doing it. You know I don't want anybody else doing it for me, and I feel like one day, when I retire, I can be like I took it from these guys. I did it, man. You know I didn't. It wasn't by accident. My success isn't by accident, you know. So, like it's my hard work, it's my discipline, my determination, my love for what I do, and you know I'm happy with the way everything turned out.
Aaron Pete:I feel like I couldn't have written a better story.
Aiemann Zahabi:I couldn't agree more. I couldn't have written a better way.
Aaron Pete:And that's where, for me, like the thing that you helped me learn about why I love fighting so much, is because you have this philosophy that we've talked about in other interviews how you think about adversity, how you think about your approach, how you process the challenges and adversity, and how you prepare and how you plan and and how you approach all of those things build like a pyramid so that there is this moment where the lights are on you, but you've done so much underneath that build you up where you don't have to worry because the foundation is rock solid. And that's what, to me, you have is this rock solid foundation. So when adversity comes up, when things are unexpected, you're still able to navigate them, but because you've built that solid foundation in which to operate.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I totally agree, man. My base is extremely large and I like to cultivate it at all times. I make sure that I'm always working on myself and I like to cultivate it at all times. I make sure that I'm always working on myself and I try to look inward more than I try to look outward. Whatever problems I have, they're probably more likely to not come from within. So if I can solve those problems, the outside, the external, can't hurt me. When the internal is so strong, the external does nothing.
Aaron Pete:So I don't know if you want me to change the name of the title to say King of Montreal instead of Amon. You just let me know King of Montreal. I love it.
Aiemann Zahabi:I love it. I think that's a good one. Somebody else said they would like to hear me being announced as the one the only I said that's pretty cool too. I'm still working out on nicknames, guys. If anybody has any ideas, throw them in the comments. I would love to brainstorm with the fans too. You know I'm still working on it. I like King of the North, I like King of Montreal. I mean, something that has to do with the cold would be cool. I mean, I don't know, there's so many ways we can go, guys. I mean we're brainstorming right now.
Aaron Pete:We're brainstorming. I really like King of Montreal though I felt like it came in the moment Amon, King of Montreal, Zahabi. I feel like that works really nicely.
Aiemann Zahabi:I think it works really nicely. I beat the King of Rio and I had told another journalist before the fight I think it was on Wednesday or Thursday that if Jose Aldo does wear the crown, if I beat him can he just put it on my head. But he didn't come with it so I didn't even ask him.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, you called out Chido Vera and I don't know if you heard, but his fight was just canceled.
Aiemann Zahabi:What are the odds of that. You're manifesting over here. Yeah, it seems like that. I had no idea his fight would get canceled. I didn't care that it was in three weeks. Anyway, I was willing to fight him in the fall.
Aaron Pete:So yeah, I guess now there's even more chance for me to fight him in the fall I love that fight. I think you walked through him personally, but whatever.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, it's a great fight. You know, listen, I have nothing against the guy. I don't love him. I think half the battle is entertaining the fans and the other half is winning the fight Agreed.
Aaron Pete:You also got to see I don't know if you were able to zone into this, but Mike Malod and Jasmine Jazz-DeVitius were able to win their fights as well and show out, and I did a parlay and I was very successful in that parlay because I just believe in the Canadians and you guys all showed out. How did it feel to watch them perform and succeed as well?
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, I was really happy with them. You know. I've seen them around a few times at different events and stuff and I really liked them both. I think they both have a good mindset and they both come from a really strong team and they work well with their team and their you know their mindset and their ability to improve every fight. Like you know, every time Mike and Jazz go out there, I feel like they're always just that much better, you know. So I'm really proud of that as Canadians. You know they're not the only ones who are successful. You know.
Aiemann Zahabi:I'm really happy also with Marc-Andre Barriot, who you know he had a two-fight losing skid and then both of them were KOs, and now he comes to win by breaking a guy's skull, which is crazy. I don't even know how the guy's skull broke. It's insane. I'm really proud of him too for overcoming the skid, which is hell. I've been there before. Team Canada are really turning things around. Jillian Robertson won the other day and there were so many guys doing so well. I'm just proud of Team Canada. We've got Charles Jordan coming up, it seems, and I'm happy for him too, and I just want to be. When it comes to the international level, I think we should unite and the Canadians should work together. That's Canada versus the world, really.
Aaron Pete:That's what I heard George St-Pierre say to Ariel in his interview is when he was on his come up, that all the groups kind of united and started training together and sharpening their skills together and that's why they were able to perform so strongly during that period and he was like I haven't seen that in this next generation yet.
Aiemann Zahabi:I saw that clip and I took it to heart. And then, when I saw the doctors, after my fight, charles Rodin came to congratulate me and when I saw him, that was the first thing on my mind. I said doctors, after my fight, charles Rodin came to congratulate me and when I saw him, that was the first thing on my mind. I said thank you, but I'm like, listen, we've got to make an alliance, bro. I'm like we've got to get together, man, like listen, when it comes to international. I told him there's a video of it on UFC Instagram, you can see it. I was telling him like you, man, you need anything from us, team Canada, we're on the world stage. We got your back. If there's anything we can help you with, we'll help you. If you want to help us, I would love to have your help, but we're there for you.
Aiemann Zahabi:I know he just came to congratulate me and I kind of put something heavy on him. Obviously, I don't want him to. I don't want to disrespect him. I'm not telling him to leave his team. I'm just saying would you could just be extra help? That's all I'm trying to say, you know, and I feel like that's, that's how it should be for all the Canadians. If you're Canadian and Tristar can help you, we'll help you.
Aaron Pete:I love that. I think that's the to take that to heart, because there would also be something so rewarding. You guys get the poster together, but it would be so cool if there was a backstory to you guys working together and building each other up and making sure you're all ready.
Aiemann Zahabi:There's just something adds to the story when you hear about those types of things. Yeah, I would love, even for Mike, for Jasmine, for any of the Canadians. They've all trained with us before, but the door is always open for any of them, any Canadian, to come train with us.
Aaron Pete:If this chapter of your life had a title, what would you call it?
Aiemann Zahabi:The Rise, the Rise man. I think this is it. I think beating Aldo really made my stock rise to the next level. I'm getting a lot more respect. I feel like now no one could tell me anything about fighting that I haven't overcome. I overcame it all now. I even beat one of the legends. I beat one of the living Hall of Famers who's still competing. I did it with being in a lower weight class than he was on the night. It's just so funny. Now I feel like I have the right to talk about adversity. So funny I feel like I have the right to talk about adversity. In there. I feel like I'm a veteran and my place is cemented in the UFC. I have records now.
Aiemann Zahabi:I was just looking it up before. It's not completely confirmed, but it seems like the only Canadians who've won six in a row in the UFC is me, gsp and TJ Grant. That's it. That's a short list. The only guys to beat Aldo at featherweight Conor McGregor, volkanovski, max Holloway, amon Zahabi that's it. You know what I mean. So I've done a lot. I've done really well for myself, and the story ain't over. It actually just got started, man. This is just the start.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more and I just I really want to personally thank you for staying in touch, for being willing to share your time. It's been an absolute honor to watch you come up and go through so much growth and hear about your philosophy and just watch it all come to fruition. You deserve it, You've earned it and you've worked so hard and I'm so glad to see you starting to get your flowers. I think there could be a few more, but I'm happy to see that we're moving in that direction because you've absolutely earned it.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah, thank you man, I really appreciate it. Yeah, I think the horizon is going to be nice. You know George said, you know, getting this one over Aldo, he's like nothing stopping you on the way to the title. He's like. You know, he was kind of the boogeyman of the division in a sense. You know he was so dangerous to fight and I stayed toe to toe with him. I didn't. I didn't clinch him, I didn't shoot on him, I didn't try to stall him, I didn't beat him the way those other guys beat him. I beat him in what he does best, you know. So pretty proud of that and you didn't fold.
Aaron Pete:When times got tough, there were so many people curl up and they wait for the moment to fade away. You chose to keep pushing forward, and I think there's just so much to learn from individuals like yourself. When times do get tough, you have to step up, you have to push forward, you have to find a way to move forward. Think that 15 seconds then go for the three minute kind of mentality. I just I love that and I've taken that into my own life and I'm just so grateful to be able to speak with you.
Aiemann Zahabi:Yeah thank you, man, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on it's an honor thanks guys, I appreciate it.
Aiemann Zahabi:Man, you know like, uh, this was a big moment for me and uh, you know the the adversity just kept piling on you. You know, when I first got the fight, one of the quotes I had for this training camp that kind of helped me get through it was when God wanted to make David king. He didn't send him a crown, he sent him Goliath. But my Goliath kept getting bigger. So at first it was Aldo, then it was Aldo missing weight, and then it was getting dropped. It's just like the mountain was getting bigger, you know, the person was getting bigger and in the end we still slayed him. So it's uh, it was a nice feeling.
Aiemann Zahabi:And one other thing was like I uh have one of my coaches, conrad. Uh, when I first got the fight, he told me I was gonna break him. You know, he told me he's like, look at 40, at 35 he breaks, at 45 he's hard to break, but 35 he breaks. I was like, okay, but but he told me this is how the fight's going to go. I'm like, okay, I'm like, how's it going to go? He's like the fight's going to start hard, but then it's going to get harder. And then, all of a sudden, it will be easy, and that's exactly what happened. What happened? That's exactly. The fight was hard. It got harder when I got dropped and then, once I overcame getting dropped, he fell apart. It was easy. The last three minutes were easy, which is incredible, man.
Aiemann Zahabi:Because it's it's crazy because you know conrad has like a whole bunch of fights and you know you've seen a million fighters and just for him to, you know to have that team, you know, prepare me for so many different, uh scenarios. You know to have them in my mind. You know that it's for so many different scenarios. You know to have them in my mind. You know that it's so important. And that's why, like I was telling Ariel, like I wouldn't be here without my team, you know, like I fight alone, yes, but I wouldn't be who I am or have the tools I have or the mindset I have, or the thoughts I have, or the ability to believe, without the guys around me. You know. So it's interesting, it's interesting. It's interesting sport, man. It's very interesting sport.
Aaron Pete:It's a very introspective, like philosophical sport from my perspective. Tim is Rebecca back there? Oh yeah, yeah, amon, just very quickly.
Rebekah Myrol:I just wanted to introduce you to my partner, Rebecca. We've been following along with all of your stuff.
Aaron Pete:We're engaged. Yeah, yeah, and so we've just been. We watched all of your pre-fight interviews with everybody. Yeah, she won't be able to hear you. Give her one of your ears.
Rebekah Myrol:Yeah.
Aiemann Zahabi:Hey Rebecca, how are you?
Rebekah Myrol:Good. How are you Good?
Aiemann Zahabi:Good, good, good good. How's being engaged to Aaron man?
Rebekah Myrol:it's amazing uh long time coming so yeah, good, I'm happy for you guys. Congratulations you got to be the man to retire, jose Aldo, that's amazing.
Aiemann Zahabi:I hope you feel so proud of yourself yeah, thank you, I feel really good and, uh, I want to wish you guys a blessing and I hope you guys get married and everything goes super well, and I hope you guys have plenty of babies as many as you guys want appreciate that, amon.
Rebekah Myrol:Again congratulations, and I look forward to watching more of your fights like you're. You're a legend and don't listen to ariel, he's all right.
Aiemann Zahabi:I really appreciate it. Thank you so much amazing, appreciate, appreciate it.
Aaron Pete:Man, we'll get this all put together, is that okay? Do you have any B-roll footage you can kick over?
Aiemann Zahabi:I can send you. I have some footage in an email. I'll just forward you that email. That would be easy. And if not, if you don't like it, if you want to send it to me, I can have my guy add some stuff. But just for him to send you all the stuff it's going to be long. So I'll just get you what I have already and then it's up to you.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, we'll put it together and then maybe we can send it over to you for a quick look over. Yeah, See if you're happy with how it turned out and everything.
Aiemann Zahabi:Perfect. Yeah, of course, yeah.
Aaron Pete:You deserve the full treatment on this one no-transcript.
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