April 22, 2024 • 37 mins
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.
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Episode Transcript
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Aaron Pete (00:00):
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 incrediblywise, insightful and an absolute
wealth of knowledge.
I'm speaking with the man, themyth, the legend, amon Zahabi.
Amon, I missed you.
(00:22):
I feel like we don't hang outanymore.
Aiemann Zahabi (00:25):
I told you to get me out after my last fight.
It took a whole month here.
Aaron Pete (00:30):
Okay, for people who don't know you, would you mind
just really briefly introducingyourself?
Aiemann Zahabi (00:35):
Yeah, so I fight in the UFC.
I just fought recently actuallya month ago and I won again.
I beat an undefeated fighter,someone who was never lost,
which was a big accomplishmentfor me, especially that
everybody counted me out, so Iwas really happy with that
performance.
Aaron Pete (00:54):
And I've gotten to win four fights in a row in the
UFC and now I've become aYouTuber.
Yes, there's lots to talk about, lots to catch up on.
Aiemann Zahabi (01:00):
Maybe let's start with the mindset of going
in to fight somebody undefeated.
Yeah, I mean, uh, it wasinteresting because I I saw when
I watched the tape of him fightyou know I look for the holes
and his weaknesses and stufflike that and I just feel like a
lot of people they just focuson his positives and they don't
see the weaknesses.
So everyone was kind ofdoubting me because I have two
losses and this guy has none,and I've won three straight in
(01:22):
the ufc.
He's won three straight in theufc so obviously he should win.
So they're just going offnumbers and statistics.
But that's not why we play thegame right.
You know statistics don't judgewho's gonna win.
You know you gotta go in thereand play it right.
That's why a lot of times youhave these great, uh like
underdog stories where theunderdogs win because they don't
know what's inside here andthey don't know what's inside
(01:43):
your heart too.
So it was interesting to gothere as an underdog.
At one point I was after roundone.
I was like minus 1200, I'msorry, plus 1200.
So I was the underdog.
So, yeah, plus.
So which is?
Aaron Pete (01:55):
huge man, huge, yeah , very disrespectful, like uh.
Aiemann Zahabi (02:00):
So it was nice to to prove everybody wrong.
And uh, you know, when it wastraining camp, I just put the
blinders on.
I believed in myself and Ibelieved 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 readyand I knew that people's
opinions don't fight for the guy.
Nobody intercedes for him.
In the end, it's just me andhim.
You know that's.
Aaron Pete (02:20):
The only thing that matters is how we fight how do
you develop the mental fortitudeto not let this undefeated
streak get into your head oflike well, he's undefeated, he
can't lose.
How do you make sure that thoseI don't know demons don't get
into your head?
Aiemann Zahabi (02:36):
Yeah, it's not easy.
It's an easy job to fall into,that for sure.
But one of the things that I dois 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 mineand I'm watching him, but I'm
also watching his opponents.
And so, like, what me and forus will do is we'll be like,
(02:57):
okay, well, he's scoring thesestrikes or these takedowns
because his opponents are doingwhat.
What are they doing that aregiving up the takedown or
allowing him to land the strikes?
And then we watch my tape andwe see, oh, but I don't react
the way they react in thesesituations and what can I do to
double down and make sure that Idon't get hit the way they got
(03:18):
hit and how?
What can I do to avoid thetakedowns that they gave up?
So we also look at it fromperspective of what was why?
Why did he win?
Like, what was so bad about hisopponents?
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, makingerrors on their own?
(03:41):
So we take that intoconsideration too.
So there are different layerson preparing yourself for a
fight.
You can't just focus on the guyyou're fighting, but you have
to take a look at why he won thefights against those opponents.
And then we come to therealization.
Oh, I don't do a lot of thehabits that these guys do.
I don't do the mistakes they doand for me, if you don't force
(04:03):
an error, there's very littlechance I'm going to give up an
error, whereas some of the guyshe fought they gave up a lot of
errors and then they spiraledout of control and it's not my
personality or my characteristicor my style of fighting to do
what they did.
You know, I'm much moreconscientious of the time
elapsed in the fight and I'mmuch more of a ring general.
So, like I, have strength thatthese opponents didn't have and
(04:26):
that helped me build theconfidence to go in there.
Aaron Pete (04:29):
You're like my life guru.
I have a follow-up specificquestion to that.
I'm wondering how transferablethat mindset of looking at your
opponent's errors and maybewhere their weaknesses lie
applies to regular people.
And what I mean by that is,like so often, I find that we
struggle with our ownself-confidence.
(04:50):
We go I'm not very good at thatand I could be better at this,
but we don't really go.
How could I be better than thecolleague that I'm working next?
Like how could I improve?
Not in like a malicious, likethat person sucks and I'm better
than them, but like how can Ibring more to the table?
How much?
Aiemann Zahabi (05:10):
do you think is transferable in regards to
looking at your opponent'sweaknesses?
It's super transferable, forsure, because you need to be
able to be strong where youropponents are weak or the person
you're competing against isweak, but also you have to
strengthen your game whereyou're strong as well.
So, because you want to dobetter than they do where
they're bad, but they also havestrengths, and you have to
strengthen your game whereyou're strong as well.
So, because you want to dobetter than they do where
they're bad, but they also havestrengths, and you have to outdo
them there as well, right?
So that's why, like uh, there'sa really good quote.
(05:33):
I like uh if it's reallyspecific for fighting, but I
think it works in a lot ofdifferent things.
It's offense and defense arethe two blades of the same pair
of scissors.
Okay, so, like, without bothblades, you can't use the
scissors.
And the same thing withfighting.
Like, you can be really good onoffense, but if you've got no
defense, you're gonna get cooked.
Like you might beat certainguys, but you can't beat
(05:54):
everybody.
And if you've only got reallygood defense, you may not be
able to finish somebody.
You know, you may not be ableto go out there, take the win,
because in some fights you haveto take it and in some fights
you know it's given to you,right?
So you need that balance ofoffense and defense always
working together.
And it's the same thing withstrengths and weaknesses.
So you need to obviously outdothem in their weaknesses, but
you need to also crush them intheir strengths too, right?
(06:15):
You have to find a way tooutplay them as much as possible
and, at the same time, coveryour weaknesses so that you
don't get outplayed.
And it's really interesting thatwhen you talk about work and
stuff like that, or competingagainst another business or
another company or anotheremployee, it doesn't have to be
so direct the competition, right.
It's more like we each have ourown lane and we're each trying
(06:36):
to climb this ladder, right, andwe're being judged
independently, especially ifwe're working for the same
company.
You don't need to be head headto head in malicious competition
.
And there's another quoteactually, I just saw the other
day whereas a lot of times yourcompetition, they end up dying
from suicide.
They don't get killed by you.
They end up having their ownerrors, right.
(06:59):
So sometimes all you have to dois don't worry about other
people, like you know, thehorses, when they run really
fast because they have theblinders on, they don't see the
other horses, they don't getdistracted.
Sometimes all you need to do iskeep the blinders on yourself
and work on your game, work onyour game, work on your game,
especially if you're likecompeting against someone in the
same business.
Don't sabotage them, don'tattack them, don't go, you know,
(07:25):
and then that way, if theycreate, if they make an error on
their own, bob, you, you, youskyrocket right, you jump 10
steps ahead of them.
Aaron Pete (07:29):
That's one thing I feel like we do see quite a bit
within the ufc.
Specific like within fightingspecifically is somebody will go
, oh, that person's not verygood at wrestling.
Like, think of sean o'malley.
Like, oh, maybe he's not goodat wrestling, so I'm gonna try
and wrestle him, and then theykind 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
(07:49):
O'Malley's level.
So then they kind of just tryand go in and go well, this is
what's what he's not good at.
So I'm just gonna hone in onthat and it's almost an error
because you don't do whatbrought you to the game.
I think Michael Chandler hasreceived some of that criticism
of like he he's a great wrestlerbut he never uses his wrestling
because he loves.
He loves that, that grittyelement of the sport, he likes
(08:09):
putting on exciting fights, andso it's hard to find that
balance.
Do you find that struggle aswell?
Aiemann Zahabi (08:15):
Yeah, of course we're all struggling with that.
That's the difference betweenwinning and losing, you know.
And, uh, it's, it's interestingbecause you know when you, when
you're striking, when you'redoing, let's say like we talk
specifically about striking okay, and like when you, when you
have a new student and you'reteaching them how to box and how
to kick box and how to do allthat stuff, um, you know, you
teach them certain rules of thegame, general thumbnails.
(08:35):
You know thumb, like rules ofthumb.
I mean, these are general ruleson thumb and they have to
follow.
Keep your hands up, keep yourchin down.
Uh, never circle to the powerside, always circle to the weak
side.
You can give them all thesedifferent rules to protect them,
to cocoon them.
You give them these parameters.
But as they level up in thegame and they attain a certain
(08:56):
level of mastery of thedifferent skills, you get to
play outside those rules,outside those parameters, almost
like you don't need theparameters.
Like, if you watch my fight,this last one, I circled to the
power side almost the entirefight, you know, and I guess
every key line, the plan was tocircle towards the power side.
Sometimes I I prepare so wellto counter their, their, their
(09:18):
best strike or their mostpowerful strike, and I want to
basically egg them on like, ohyeah, 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 takehis best shot, because I have it
ready, I have the answer ready.
And one of the things for thisfight with uh, with uh, sorry,
with javid bashar I had a blankthere for a moment with javid
(09:38):
bashar, he takes all hisopponents down and or, watching
his fights, my brother said,well, he always takes them down.
But what happens to him if hecan't score the takedown?
Will he crumble, will he runout of gas?
Because to be able to do whathe does to the other guys he
fought when he got that takedown, it gave him a break to be able
(10:02):
to sustain the footwork he hason his feet, because the way he
bounces around it costs a lot ofenergy, 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, inand out.
It's a lot of work.
So when he scores that takedown, opponent is exhausted from
(10:24):
taking the damage, from beingout-wrestled, from being
out-grappled.
So we haven't seen a fightwhere we just fight standing.
So one thing we were preparedfor was we have to make sure our
footwork.
There's a plan implemented thathe cannot score an easy takedown
.
There is no such thing as aneasy takedown.
And you see, in round two whenhe finally decided to shoot, he
(10:44):
decided to shoot.
He missed the first one.
He got frustrated, startedwalking me down and that's when
I started hitting him and heshot again.
He missed the second one.
Then he shot a third one.
He was, he was scrambling inhis mind and he shot.
That's why I feel like I forcedan error on him eventually,
because he got frustrated, hegot emotional, I didn't.
It's that's what hisdeterioration also started from
within.
Then I had to up on it and nearthe end of round two, you see,
(11:06):
he was getting so frustrated hekept walking in and throwing
strikes and I landed on onestrike that dropped him to one
knee.
So that's how I ended upwinning round two.
So sometimes they can do anerror on their own or you can
force an error upon them.
So that's kind of part of thewhole strategy building game.
Aaron Pete (11:23):
Okay, I want you to be honest with me.
I need an honest moment out ofyou.
Yeah, how, when you're lookingat your opponent, how much do
you know that you're better thanthem?
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 thatis real?
How confident are you when youlook at the tape?
(11:43):
Do you go, oh, I'm going to eatyou for breakfast here?
Aiemann Zahabi (11:47):
Yeah, I mean when I was undefeated, that was
me every single fight, and afterI lost my first one, it wasn't
as easy.
I was struggling early.
But now this last fight was thefirst one I was like I got this
.
I had won three straight andnot one of those three where I
was like it's for sure I coulddo it.
That's like 100.
(12:07):
It's always like I could win, Icould do it.
And this one, warming up, Ifelt like everything has
culminated to this point where Iam at my best now, and it took
20 years, so we figured it outand then we put it all together
and now I just feel like, ifthey can't force an error out of
me, I'm going to win.
I just have to be myself.
And I finally reached thatpoint of acknowledgement of my
(12:33):
own skills and my own abilitiesthat I have the confidence I can
go out there and beat anybody.
Aaron Pete (12:38):
And how much did it play in when you're seeing those
odds?
I've heard it said that likefighters can be sensitive about
those things and I know likelots 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 yourshow.
I know ariel hawani infamouslydoesn't like making picks
because that can actually offendfighters and go like why would
I come on your show if you'rebetting against me, if you think
(13:00):
I'm not gonna win?
So how much?
How much does that play intoyour mindset?
Does it have a negative impact?
Sounds like you had a reallygood mindset going into it, but
those odds they can eat away atyou.
Aiemann Zahabi (13:11):
Yeah, I didn't know the actual numbers, I just
knew I was an underdog becauseyou know, like there was a whole
, the whole thing about JamesKrause and his team maybe fixing
fights and stuff.
So basically the UFC sent outan email saying that fighters
and their friends and familycan't bet on the fights, right?
So, like nobody around me tellsme the numbers because I don't
want to get in trouble.
(13:32):
So, like I told everybody, ifanybody's I don't know about
anything about betting, I don'twant to get in trouble with the
UFC or like the commissions oranything like that.
So nobody around me tells menumbers which is good, because
they do hurt emotionally right.
So I knew that I was an underdog, but I didn't know by how much.
And I think the most offendedwas Firas.
(13:52):
Firas could not believe how bigthe numbers were.
He was shocked, he took offense.
He took big offense to it, butme, I'm just happy to prove
everyone wrong.
Aaron Pete (14:03):
That's fantastic.
Do you think that that's alsoapplicable to other people?
Like I find that I do betterwhen I start to think of the
naysayers, the people who didn'tthink I was going to graduate
high school, the people thatthought I was going to join a
gang.
I get fuel from thinking thatpeople don't believe in me and I
feel like that's a certainpercent, and then believing in
(14:24):
yourself is also a certainpercent, but that having the
naysayers is almost key towanting to go out and prove them
wrong.
Aiemann Zahabi (14:31):
Yeah, I agree, I think it's great fuel, but you
know, some people let it crushthem.
Some people use it as fuel, soit's it's either one person or
the other, but me I use it asfuel.
Well, yeah, we doubled up onthe cardio because in his three
wins in the UFC he won decisionsin all of them.
(14:54):
So we thought, more likely thannot, we're going to go all the
way, the whole 15.
So instead of doing becausenormally what I do is I do like
a martial arts practice and thenI have a second martial arts
practice and then I do myconditioning 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, thenanother practice and then
another conditioning.
(15:14):
So I was doing conditioninglike you wouldn't believe, like
it was crazy the amount of timesI was right and like people
were freaking out.
People like what are youtraining for?
What's going on here?
Like I don't think we've everdone it that hardcore.
And I'm happy because it paidoff, because you see, in round
three he gassed man and I didn'tgas.
He gassed and the commentatorsare saying in round one that
they did an interview with himon like the during the week and
(15:38):
he thought that the reason why Idon't throw a lot of strikes
it's because I'm afraid to gas.
I don't not throw a lot ofstrikes, I'm afraid to gas.
I don't throw a lot because I'mefficient.
If you look at the numbers afterthat fight, he threw like 50 or
60 strikes more than me, but Ioutstruck him, I out.
I landed more strikes than him,so I landed like 52 of my
strikes.
He landed like 28.
(15:58):
So, yeah, you're throwing allthis, all these strikes, but
you're not scoring, brother, yougotta score.
In the end you gotta score.
And the number one criteria towin a fight is who does the most
damage.
And he's hitting and moving andrunning and touching and going.
He's playing tight.
I'm not.
I was looking, like you cantell by his strikes.
There were thumps and I waslooking to put him out.
I was looking to put him out.
Aaron Pete (16:18):
Fascinating.
And so how do you feel afterthat win?
You're the man.
What's the next step after that?
Aiemann Zahabi (16:25):
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 thingsare going really, really well.
And uh, the ufc was happy withthe 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.
(16:45):
Still it's almost finished.
And uh had a lot of free timein the day so I was like
googling, youtubing how to dothis stuff and how to, you know,
buy the right equipment and andfilm 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 mysocials and really like trying
to expand my, my presence in thein the social media realm
(17:08):
brilliant.
Aaron Pete (17:09):
I want to get into get into that, but I just want
to ask do you have a next fightthat you imagine for yourself?
Do you know what that next steplooks like for you?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:16):
I'm hoping it's something like in the top 15
would be great, that would benice.
And for me I think Septemberwould be really good.
September, october, becauseRamadan, like you know, I'm not,
like you know, through a monkeywrench in my physical shape.
You know, like I'm not in thebest shape right now.
I'm only training once a day.
I'm not eating the best becauseI'm not drinking or eating all
day, so I'm pigging out at night.
(17:37):
And then I got to recover fromthat.
I got to start training again,get back into the routine of
things and just sharpen myskills back up to what they were
and I can be ready for like thefall, can be ready for like the
fall.
Aaron Pete (17:47):
I have a cursory understanding of Ramadan.
Would you mind explaining itfor people who might not know?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:52):
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, thedifference between Ramadan and
the other type of fasting isthat when you fast for like
weight loss and stuff, you'redrinking water all day, you can
(18:14):
have your black coffee, you canhave some sodium, some
electrolytes in your water, butwhen you're drinking no liquids,
we have no liquids and no food.
It's a different type of hungerand you get, like these
different types of headachesfrom the dehydration.
And then when you sit down tohave your meal, there's no but
more appreciation for grocerystores, fast food, the ovens,
(18:37):
fridges everything tastesamazing.
You know, you, we take it forgranted how easy it is to snack
and drink all day and there'snothing that makes you more
grateful to have the you know,the ability to eat and drink
whenever you want.
The comforts of the West areamazing.
Aaron Pete (18:58):
What is the religious belief behind it?
What brings it about?
Aiemann Zahabi (19:02):
Basically, it's to keep you humble, to keep your
head on the swivel, becausewhen people start making a lot
of money or start moving up inthe world, they have a lot of
these comforts.
They forget what it's like tohave them taken away.
So it's mandatory for all of uswho practice uh islam to fast
during ramadan.
And it's to to humble you, toremember that there are people
(19:25):
out there still today, while youhave the comforts, while you
have the money, they can'tafford food, they don't have a
pair of shoes, they don't haveclothes, they don't have homes
to live in.
And it's a time for where youtell the stories of the prophets
, also during this time oframadan.
So you get to hear a lot abouttheir, their life stories, and
it's also humbling because a lotof the prophets started with
(19:46):
nothing.
You know they weren't bornkings.
The prophets, a lot of them,were poor.
So you get to hear all thesestories, even though you know
the Prophet Muhammad has.
There's a story about him andhe's walking in the middle of
the night during Ramadan and hesees a couple of his companions
strolling the night becausethey're sorry, the evening just
(20:08):
before they break their fast.
So they haven't broken theirfast and they're hungry.
So they're just walking aroundand just keeping their mind busy
and avoiding cheating andeating something.
And they're asking him how isyour fast going?
He says, you know it's goingwell.
I'm just out for a walk andthey're talking, chit-chatting
or whatever.
And he asked them how was yours?
(20:36):
And then they show him that theyhad the stones tied around
their bellies with ropes tosquish against their belly so
that they don't feel theirhunger 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 aroundhis waist.
So it's just, it's justinteresting to see how, like,
even then, they suffered.
You, prophet Muhammad, is themost revered prophet and he
suffered during Ramadan.
And if he's suffering, whycan't we suffer?
(20:57):
Why can't we take the time outto suffer?
And he was leading the empire,right.
So we should all take a chanceand humble ourselves for this
time and to remember that noteveryone can afford food and
water and clothes and homes andall these things.
Aaron Pete (21:11):
That's incredible.
Do you have any other storiesthat you like from the prophets?
Aiemann Zahabi (21:16):
Yeah, but I love the story of Noah.
Actually, the Islamic versionhas like a small little twist.
A little bit of a difference isthat when it's time to get on
the boat, noah tells his wifeand son to come on and write, to
go on with the animals andeveryone who's gonna believe in
God and get on the ship.
And his son refuses and hiswife refuses, and Noah and asks
(21:42):
God to change their minds.
And God says no, I can't changetheir minds.
They have free will.
You know, it's their choice.
They either come on the ship bytheir own will or they do, they
don't.
And so they decide, decide notto, and, uh, they don't go on
the boat and they die.
And it's a really interestingstory because I like I tell this
(22:03):
story to my kids every ramadan.
It's because, in the end, ifthey choose to follow god, it's
up to them.
I I'm gonna do my best to teachthem what I know and what I
learned, but their relationshipwith God is theirs, on their own
, you know.
And same thing for my wife,same thing for everybody.
So you can't go around tryingto force people to do what you
believe.
(22:23):
You just teach them what youknow and what you understand,
and if they take it, great.
If they don't take it, that'son them.
Aaron Pete (22:32):
It seems like you've also incorporated that.
In one of our previousconversations you talked about
helping people lose weight, andif they don't participate at a
certain point, it's like I can'ttrain you anymore, Because if
you're not going to agree to thepath, then I'm not going to
take responsibility for the lackof success you're seeing.
Aiemann Zahabi (22:50):
Yeah, exactly, not going to take responsibility
for the lack of success you'reseeing.
Yeah, exactly, I mean, thechoice 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 controlis your decisions and your
attitude about how you takethings right.
That's all you got.
So if you're not on board withmy 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 thatyou're gonna pay me that's
(23:12):
gonna make me take the money andjust try to motivate you.
I can't motivate you.
It is what it is.
You know the same thing forreligion, you know.
I teach what I can if you'renot down for it, and it is what
it is I know you're you're mrphilosophy, so I'm just curious
what are your thoughts on?
Aaron Pete (23:28):
on sam harris and his perspectives that there is
no free will?
Aiemann Zahabi (23:33):
Listen, I'm not a PhD neuroscientist like him,
but he's debated Muslim scholarsand other people before and you
know they've made fun of himfor his take especially on Islam
and things like that.
So, like I wouldn't have theskills to debate him in that
sense, but it's something thatwe all feel you sense, but it's
something that we all feel youknow, it's something that we all
(23:55):
feel in the end, uh, you know,for example, you could take
someone and kidnap them and beatthem and do all those things to
them, like, let's say, like thepeople in um, the people in
auschwitz, let's say, the peoplewho got killed and murdered by,
uh, the nazis, right, one ofthe people that they had in
those camps was, uh, victorfrankel and he wrote a book.
It's called the man's searchfor meaning and he talks about
(24:16):
it and he's like, look, theytook everything from us our
families, our homes, our money,our clothes.
They sleep us 21 people on alittle cramped bed, everyone's
sleeping sideways and on top ofeach other.
They feed us nothing but likewarmed up water with little bits
of vegetables, like nothing,nothing.
They're giving them literallythe bare minimum of everything,
(24:36):
but yet every day they decide towake up and do the work that is
asked of them.
Why?
Why do they get up and why arethey slaves to these nazis?
So why do they dig the dig thetrenches?
Why did they build therailroads?
Why did they help do whateverit 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 acouple of bullets in the back of
(24:59):
my head.
Why didn't they just say that?
Why didn't they just quit?
What is it about us humanbeings?
What is it that we have thatmakes us keep going?
And he talks about the answersin that book and, uh, one of
them, one of the answers, islove, you know, the hope of
seeing being reunited with yourwife or your children or your
loved ones.
And, and then the other answeris, like you know, seeing that
(25:24):
this is not the end and and um,and accepting that there will be
something greater after all ofthis right, something more than
this, something more that youcan come up after this on the
other side.
I haven't read the book inyears, but I remember he has
like two beautiful points aboutthat, you know.
And then so, like it's hard forme to, I can never debate this.
I don't know it well enough,but I know that those stories
(25:46):
from that book and things likethat that really made me feel
like free will is really theonly thing we can believe in,
right?
Aaron Pete (25:52):
I have to take personal accountability to you.
I, I, I did not do the threeday fast.
I tried, I tried, I tried twice.
Aiemann Zahabi (26:01):
Okay, okay, I have another.
I have another couple ofmotivating assets here for you.
Knuckle sandwiches.
Aaron Pete (26:12):
I, I.
So I of motivating assets herefor you Knuckle sandwiches.
So what my plan was, this wasthe vision, and we'll get there.
We're going to do this.
This is going to happen.
The vision now that I had was Iwas leading up to today and I
was going to have you on and Iwas going to eat my first meal
during the interview.
That was how it all set up.
And then I got to yesterday orthe the night before, and I
(26:34):
couldn't think.
Clearly I had such a horribleheadache.
So I have such sympathy forpeople going through ramadan
because I couldn't.
I think it might have beencaffeine withdrawals, but I I
had so much.
I had a meeting to go to and Icouldn'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 toquit, amon's going to call me
out, he's going to threaten mylife.
But I want to get through this.
I want to force myself throughthis.
(26:55):
I know it's possible.
It's just mental fortitude andI hit it and I just couldn't
think straight and I had to goto this meeting and I broke it
and I knew I was going todisappoint.
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 Ijust wanted to take personal
(27:15):
accountability no, no, noproblem, no problem.
Aiemann Zahabi (27:18):
But tell me so you've been fasting regularly
now, or what?
Aaron Pete (27:20):
yeah.
So I've always been like.
For the past couple of yearsI've done like one meal a day
for the most part and just doingit that way, and so two days
did almost right after we didour interview I was like, oh,
he's got me all hyped up, I'mgoing to do this.
And then I hit that two-daypoint and then I just broke it
out of laziness.
But the one yesterday was justpure.
(27:41):
I couldn't think straight, andso my new strategy is, as you
mentioned, you can do blackcoffee or caffeine pills, and so
I think it might've beencaffeine withdrawals that hit me
and I just couldn't get overthat lapse.
So I think the next one I'mgoing to be more prepared.
The next time you come on, I'mgoing to be having a having a
meal.
Aiemann Zahabi (27:59):
You should, man.
Yeah, black coffee doesn'tbreak your fast Cause it doesn't
spike your insulin.
You can have things that don'tspike your insulin Then.
Then you'll be okay.
Aaron Pete (28:07):
Yeah, I hit that point and then I had huge
admiration.
I know some people who aregoing through Ramadan and I was
eating a breakfast wrap in frontof them and they were like what
are you doing, you monster?
And I was like, okay, okay, I'msorry, my mistake, turned off
the camera.
Aiemann Zahabi (28:20):
You should try a dry fast one day.
It's interesting.
It's an interesting feeling,man.
It's an interesting feeling.
Aaron Pete (28:25):
Yeah, that's no water or anything, right yeah?
Aiemann Zahabi (28:29):
What would you say?
Aaron Pete (28:30):
the difference is from having water and having no
water Well the dehydration, soyou get that headache really
early on.
Aiemann Zahabi (28:36):
Oh, no yeah you got to deal with it all day.
But you know you're supposed tostill be nice, which is not
easy, right, because you'recranky 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 (28:49):
That is a really good lesson to have to avoid
that, because you have to becareful on how you communicate,
and it is a lesson in humilityand understanding and patience.
Yeah, the YouTube channel.
What made you get reallyexcited about starting it?
Aiemann Zahabi (29:03):
Yeah, yeah, you know like, uh, a lot of people
around me, uh, you've alwaysbeen telling me that you know
you should do your own channel.
You speak well, you answerquestions, well, maybe you can
do your own thing.
So I was like, yeah, okay.
And then after this win it wassuch a good win for my career
(29:24):
and I just feel so establishedwins in the UFC than I had
before the UFC Sorry, morefights, not wins, but more
fights in the UFC than I hadbefore.
So I was like you know what I'mestablished.
Now I have credibility.
I lived it, I've done it.
So I just feel like I haveenough credibility now to go on
there on socials and on YouTubeand give my opinions.
A lot of people say I had italready, but now, just mentally
(29:50):
for myself, I just feel likeI've accomplished enough to give
back to the community much more.
Aaron Pete (29:52):
Now, what's the pitch?
What's unique about youryoutube channel?
What are people tuning in for?
Aiemann Zahabi (29:56):
well, the first thing I started with is I'm
gonna start doing like watchparties and live streams.
So tune in to ufc 300.
I'm gonna have a watch partyhere in the house with my wife,
louis sanadakis and jordandeichler we're gonna have first
time we're to have four peopleon, so we're going to be
analyzing the fights and givingan alternate commentary, because
not everybody likes thecommentary that UFC provides.
So this is another way to watchthe fights and get commentary
(30:18):
from fighters and also my wife,who I call the casual, because
you know, what's great about mywife being on the show is that
she doesn't know everythingabout MMA, right, she's like the
mainstream person, so she asksa lot of questions that people
are too shy to ask when they'rein the room with fighters
Because that's such a dumbquestion.
But my wife, she's a casual.
We all know she's a casual, soit's all good if she asks.
(30:40):
And the people that follow, whowatch the live stream, they
appreciate her questions becausethey might be thinking to ask
that, but they're embarrassed toask me in the chat.
So she brings like a reallygood angle and plus she's funny
and things like that.
So it's great.
And then on top of that I'mgonna have another phase where
I'm gonna be doing liketechnique videos.
So I'm gonna teach her, youknow, different facets of
(31:00):
martial arts and how to do themsuccessfully in fight situation,
not just like the fluffy stuffpeople teach you but you never
actually could use.
I'm gonna use like fight levelskills will be taught on my
youtube channel and I'm going tohave another uh type of video
where I can do like reactionvideos and stuff like that and
like analyzing fights it'salways cool to see somebody step
(31:24):
out and try something new.
Aaron Pete (31:25):
What has been the biggest challenge in starting
this youtube channel?
Aiemann Zahabi (31:29):
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 sureI have like, let's see, like now
you see my wall.
But like now I finally figuredout how to use my green screen.
Again I'm getting a greenscreen so you don't see my back,
you just see me, and that'swhen I'm imposed on a video.
I don't obstruct anything.
So just learning the skills ofthe trade and then dealing with
(31:52):
the youtube suppression rightnow.
Youtube suppression, likebecause I don't have a lot of
followers as subscribers.
I mean like when you type in myname, my channel doesn't come
up.
Like my channel comes in likethe fourth page right because I
have interviews with like youand channels and they have a lot
of views.
So I'm getting cracked by myown interviews on other people's
(32:14):
shows.
So it's pretty funny.
So I have to make sure I sendpeople the link or I tweet my
link or I put on Instagram thelink so people can find me,
because nobody can find me onYouTube right now.
So I feel like eventually, as Ibuild a following, it'll
snowball.
Aaron Pete (32:29):
What's the channel actually called?
Aiemann Zahabi (32:31):
Called Aman Zahabi Official.
I had it originally Aman Zahabiand it was hell to find me.
I added official because, likeon my interviews and stuff,
official is not there.
So I tried to like make it sothat it's easier to find
Slightly easier, but not mucheasier.
Aaron Pete (32:47):
Right and what has been your favorite part of
starting it like?
What have you grown the most inor what do you look most
forward to in doing this?
Aiemann Zahabi (32:54):
I'm excited to chat with the fans and, uh, get
into some more dialogue in thecomment.
In the comments, you know likeI'm interested to, like I love
the lives, like the watch partythat's my favorite right now
because, like, I like to chitchat with the people, like when
they in, I like to answer theirquestions as the fights are
happening.
If they ask me what the fightercould do, I can tell them right
away Things that people areinterested in, whereas when you
(33:17):
listen to on Pay-Per-View or onthe Sportsnet you don't have a
dialogue with the commentarybooth.
It's hard for Joe Rogan toexplain it to you while the
triangle is happening or theescapes are happening or
whatever.
But in the chat you can ask mespecifically about what's going
on and during my commentary andmy analysis I can respond to you
personally.
So I feel like that's a reallynice touch and I'm excited to do
(33:40):
that with more people.
Aaron Pete (33:41):
Are you going to do any interviews, because I think
you'd be very interesting to getother fighters' perspectives on
things.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:49):
So yeah, I'm planning on it.
I just haven't decided what theformat is gonna be.
So like I want to interviewthem, but like kind of like you,
in the sense where, like Idon't want to just talk about,
you know, the superficial stuff,I want to get into something
more in depth, but I haven'tfound my that angle yet.
So once I find my angle, I'mgoing to start, but I haven't
(34:10):
figured out the questions yet.
Aaron Pete (34:12):
I don't know if the name philosophy of fighting has
started, but I feel like that'sright up your alley.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:17):
Thank you, man.
I appreciate it.
My brother's going to fight mefor that one.
I'm sure we call him thephilosopher king.
Aaron Pete (34:24):
Oh, interesting, and do you think he's going to be
attending in any of your videosor anything like that?
Aiemann Zahabi (34:30):
I'm hoping so.
You know like eventually I'mjust trying to build up my
skills for YouTube now, before Ihave a big fish like my brother
on.
Aaron Pete (34:37):
Right.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:38):
Because you know he's got like 250,000
subscribers.
So I want to be good and thenI'll get him on.
You know, I'm hoping to get GSPon 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 certainlevel of skills and mastery of
what I do before I bring in someheavy hitters.
Aaron Pete (34:56):
That's exactly how I felt when I started Start local
, start small, figure out thelittle things, figure out the
thumbnails, figure out the audioand all of that, and then look
outwards.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:08):
Yeah, because first impressions matter.
Like if I have my brother onand everything runs smoothly and
good and he gets a, you know itgoes well and we get good
feedback.
I'm sure he's going to love tobe on the second time.
But if I'm all clunky this andthat, even though we're family,
let me tell you something man.
That guy's busy, you know, itis what it is.
(35:32):
So, I really want to the otherchannels that they would go on
Brilliant and anything else bigcoming up.
No, not yet, man, just moreYouTube for now.
More YouTube and like, oh, Imight.
Actually my sweetbrother-in-law just bought me a
nice PlayStation 5, which hesurprised me with, so maybe I
might do a little Twitch thing.
We're going to see.
Aaron Pete (35:46):
That's a possibility .
Amazing.
No trips planned or anythinglike that yet.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:50):
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 becauseone of my fighters, one of my
friends, saeed Yakub Kakramanovhe's actually one of the guys I
brought in for training camp forthis last fight and he's
fighting karate combat.
He's fighting a guy named Y2KFairtex, who's got 300 fights in
Muay Thai, and he's fightinghim April 20th and yeah, so I'm
(36:16):
going to be there April 15th,april 22nd.
Aaron Pete (36:19):
Fantastic.
That sounds like it's going tobe a blast.
Have you ever been there before?
Aiemann Zahabi (36:22):
I've never been.
I'm actually trying to set up aseminar now so I can hopefully
teach over there.
One of my friends has a gym outthere, so I'd love to teach
somewhere now at his gym.
Nordin, I messaged you onInstagram.
Answer back yeah, so I'd loveto be on that and get to meet
some of the people there.
See the sites.
I'm really excited to visit theGrand Mosque in Abu Dhabi as
well, so I might take a tripover there.
(36:44):
I'm really excited to go visit.
Aaron Pete (36:46):
That sounds fantastic.
Eamon, it's always a pleasureto sit down with you.
Thank you.
You get me all excited.
You get me motivated to getback in the gym and start
working hard.
I always appreciate yourinsights.
I highly recommend people gocheck out your YouTube channel.
I just think you're such avaluable voice on how we can
develop personally, so kudos toyou for starting that.
Aiemann Zahabi (37:06):
Thank you and I appreciate you man.
I appreciate you having me onall the time and doing such
great interviews.
Thank you, guys.
Aaron Pete (37:11):
No problem, please don't beat me up in the near
future, I'm going to do the fast, don't worry Please.
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 incrediblywise, insightful and an absolute
wealth of knowledge.
I'm speaking with the man, themyth, the legend, amon Zahabi.
Amon, I missed you.
(00:22):
I feel like we don't hang outanymore.
Aiemann Zahabi (00:25):
I told you to get me out after my last fight.
It took a whole month here.
Aaron Pete (00:30):
Okay, for people who don't know you, would you mind
just really briefly introducingyourself?
Aiemann Zahabi (00:35):
Yeah, so I fight in the UFC.
I just fought recently actuallya month ago and I won again.
I beat an undefeated fighter,someone who was never lost,
which was a big accomplishmentfor me, especially that
everybody counted me out, so Iwas really happy with that
performance.
Aaron Pete (00:54):
And I've gotten to win four fights in a row in the
UFC and now I've become aYouTuber.
Yes, there's lots to talk about, lots to catch up on.
Aiemann Zahabi (01:00):
Maybe let's start with the mindset of going
in to fight somebody undefeated.
Yeah, I mean, uh, it wasinteresting because I I saw when
I watched the tape of him fightyou know I look for the holes
and his weaknesses and stufflike that and I just feel like a
lot of people they just focuson his positives and they don't
see the weaknesses.
So everyone was kind ofdoubting me because I have two
losses and this guy has none,and I've won three straight in
(01:22):
the ufc.
He's won three straight in theufc so obviously he should win.
So they're just going offnumbers and statistics.
But that's not why we play thegame right.
You know statistics don't judgewho's gonna win.
You know you gotta go in thereand play it right.
That's why a lot of times youhave these great, uh like
underdog stories where theunderdogs win because they don't
know what's inside here andthey don't know what's inside
(01:43):
your heart too.
So it was interesting to gothere as an underdog.
At one point I was after roundone.
I was like minus 1200, I'msorry, plus 1200.
So I was the underdog.
So, yeah, plus.
So which is?
Aaron Pete (01:55):
huge man, huge, yeah , very disrespectful, like uh.
Aiemann Zahabi (02:00):
So it was nice to to prove everybody wrong.
And uh, you know, when it wastraining camp, I just put the
blinders on.
I believed in myself and Ibelieved 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 readyand I knew that people's
opinions don't fight for the guy.
Nobody intercedes for him.
In the end, it's just me andhim.
You know that's.
Aaron Pete (02:20):
The only thing that matters is how we fight how do
you develop the mental fortitudeto not let this undefeated
streak get into your head oflike well, he's undefeated, he
can't lose.
How do you make sure that thoseI don't know demons don't get
into your head?
Aiemann Zahabi (02:36):
Yeah, it's not easy.
It's an easy job to fall into,that for sure.
But one of the things that I dois 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 mineand I'm watching him, but I'm
also watching his opponents.
And so, like, what me and forus will do is we'll be like,
(02:57):
okay, well, he's scoring thesestrikes or these takedowns
because his opponents are doingwhat.
What are they doing that aregiving up the takedown or
allowing him to land the strikes?
And then we watch my tape andwe see, oh, but I don't react
the way they react in thesesituations and what can I do to
double down and make sure that Idon't get hit the way they got
(03:18):
hit and how?
What can I do to avoid thetakedowns that they gave up?
So we also look at it fromperspective of what was why?
Why did he win?
Like, what was so bad about hisopponents?
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, makingerrors on their own?
(03:41):
So we take that intoconsideration too.
So there are different layerson preparing yourself for a
fight.
You can't just focus on the guyyou're fighting, but you have
to take a look at why he won thefights against those opponents.
And then we come to therealization.
Oh, I don't do a lot of thehabits that these guys do.
I don't do the mistakes they doand for me, if you don't force
(04:03):
an error, there's very littlechance I'm going to give up an
error, whereas some of the guyshe fought they gave up a lot of
errors and then they spiraledout of control and it's not my
personality or my characteristicor my style of fighting to do
what they did.
You know, I'm much moreconscientious of the time
elapsed in the fight and I'mmuch more of a ring general.
So, like I, have strength thatthese opponents didn't have and
(04:26):
that helped me build theconfidence to go in there.
Aaron Pete (04:29):
You're like my life guru.
I have a follow-up specificquestion to that.
I'm wondering how transferablethat mindset of looking at your
opponent's errors and maybewhere their weaknesses lie
applies to regular people.
And what I mean by that is,like so often, I find that we
struggle with our ownself-confidence.
(04:50):
We go I'm not very good at thatand I could be better at this,
but we don't really go.
How could I be better than thecolleague that I'm working next?
Like how could I improve?
Not in like a malicious, likethat person sucks and I'm better
than them, but like how can Ibring more to the table?
How much?
Aiemann Zahabi (05:10):
do you think is transferable in regards to
looking at your opponent'sweaknesses?
It's super transferable, forsure, because you need to be
able to be strong where youropponents are weak or the person
you're competing against isweak, but also you have to
strengthen your game whereyou're strong as well.
So, because you want to dobetter than they do where
they're bad, but they also havestrengths, and you have to
strengthen your game whereyou're strong as well.
So, because you want to dobetter than they do where
they're bad, but they also havestrengths, and you have to outdo
them there as well, right?
So that's why, like uh, there'sa really good quote.
(05:33):
I like uh if it's reallyspecific for fighting, but I
think it works in a lot ofdifferent things.
It's offense and defense arethe two blades of the same pair
of scissors.
Okay, so, like, without bothblades, you can't use the
scissors.
And the same thing withfighting.
Like, you can be really good onoffense, but if you've got no
defense, you're gonna get cooked.
Like you might beat certainguys, but you can't beat
(05:54):
everybody.
And if you've only got reallygood defense, you may not be
able to finish somebody.
You know, you may not be ableto go out there, take the win,
because in some fights you haveto take it and in some fights
you know it's given to you,right?
So you need that balance ofoffense and defense always
working together.
And it's the same thing withstrengths and weaknesses.
So you need to obviously outdothem in their weaknesses, but
you need to also crush them intheir strengths too, right?
(06:15):
You have to find a way tooutplay them as much as possible
and, at the same time, coveryour weaknesses so that you
don't get outplayed.
And it's really interesting thatwhen you talk about work and
stuff like that, or competingagainst another business or
another company or anotheremployee, it doesn't have to be
so direct the competition, right.
It's more like we each have ourown lane and we're each trying
(06:36):
to climb this ladder, right, andwe're being judged
independently, especially ifwe're working for the same
company.
You don't need to be head headto head in malicious competition
.
And there's another quoteactually, I just saw the other
day whereas a lot of times yourcompetition, they end up dying
from suicide.
They don't get killed by you.
They end up having their ownerrors, right.
(06:59):
So sometimes all you have to dois don't worry about other
people, like you know, thehorses, when they run really
fast because they have theblinders on, they don't see the
other horses, they don't getdistracted.
Sometimes all you need to do iskeep the blinders on yourself
and work on your game, work onyour game, work on your game,
especially if you're likecompeting against someone in the
same business.
Don't sabotage them, don'tattack them, don't go, you know,
(07:25):
and then that way, if theycreate, if they make an error on
their own, bob, you, you, youskyrocket right, you jump 10
steps ahead of them.
Aaron Pete (07:29):
That's one thing I feel like we do see quite a bit
within the ufc.
Specific like within fightingspecifically is somebody will go
, oh, that person's not verygood at wrestling.
Like, think of sean o'malley.
Like, oh, maybe he's not goodat wrestling, so I'm gonna try
and wrestle him, and then theykind 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
(07:49):
O'Malley's level.
So then they kind of just tryand go in and go well, this is
what's what he's not good at.
So I'm just gonna hone in onthat and it's almost an error
because you don't do whatbrought you to the game.
I think Michael Chandler hasreceived some of that criticism
of like he he's a great wrestlerbut he never uses his wrestling
because he loves.
He loves that, that grittyelement of the sport, he likes
(08:09):
putting on exciting fights, andso it's hard to find that
balance.
Do you find that struggle aswell?
Aiemann Zahabi (08:15):
Yeah, of course we're all struggling with that.
That's the difference betweenwinning and losing, you know.
And, uh, it's, it's interestingbecause you know when you, when
you're striking, when you'redoing, let's say like we talk
specifically about striking okay, and like when you, when you
have a new student and you'reteaching them how to box and how
to kick box and how to do allthat stuff, um, you know, you
teach them certain rules of thegame, general thumbnails.
(08:35):
You know thumb, like rules ofthumb.
I mean, these are general ruleson thumb and they have to
follow.
Keep your hands up, keep yourchin down.
Uh, never circle to the powerside, always circle to the weak
side.
You can give them all thesedifferent rules to protect them,
to cocoon them.
You give them these parameters.
But as they level up in thegame and they attain a certain
(08:56):
level of mastery of thedifferent skills, you get to
play outside those rules,outside those parameters, almost
like you don't need theparameters.
Like, if you watch my fight,this last one, I circled to the
power side almost the entirefight, you know, and I guess
every key line, the plan was tocircle towards the power side.
Sometimes I I prepare so wellto counter their, their, their
(09:18):
best strike or their mostpowerful strike, and I want to
basically egg them on like, ohyeah, 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 takehis best shot, because I have it
ready, I have the answer ready.
And one of the things for thisfight with uh, with uh, sorry,
with javid bashar I had a blankthere for a moment with javid
(09:38):
bashar, he takes all hisopponents down and or, watching
his fights, my brother said,well, he always takes them down.
But what happens to him if hecan't score the takedown?
Will he crumble, will he runout of gas?
Because to be able to do whathe does to the other guys he
fought when he got that takedown, it gave him a break to be able
(10:02):
to sustain the footwork he hason his feet, because the way he
bounces around it costs a lot ofenergy, 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, inand out.
It's a lot of work.
So when he scores that takedown, opponent is exhausted from
(10:24):
taking the damage, from beingout-wrestled, from being
out-grappled.
So we haven't seen a fightwhere we just fight standing.
So one thing we were preparedfor was we have to make sure our
footwork.
There's a plan implemented thathe cannot score an easy takedown
.
There is no such thing as aneasy takedown.
And you see, in round two whenhe finally decided to shoot, he
(10:44):
decided to shoot.
He missed the first one.
He got frustrated, startedwalking me down and that's when
I started hitting him and heshot again.
He missed the second one.
Then he shot a third one.
He was, he was scrambling inhis mind and he shot.
That's why I feel like I forcedan error on him eventually,
because he got frustrated, hegot emotional, I didn't.
It's that's what hisdeterioration also started from
within.
Then I had to up on it and nearthe end of round two, you see,
(11:06):
he was getting so frustrated hekept walking in and throwing
strikes and I landed on onestrike that dropped him to one
knee.
So that's how I ended upwinning round two.
So sometimes they can do anerror on their own or you can
force an error upon them.
So that's kind of part of thewhole strategy building game.
Aaron Pete (11:23):
Okay, I want you to be honest with me.
I need an honest moment out ofyou.
Yeah, how, when you're lookingat your opponent, how much do
you know that you're better thanthem?
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 thatis real?
How confident are you when youlook at the tape?
(11:43):
Do you go, oh, I'm going to eatyou for breakfast here?
Aiemann Zahabi (11:47):
Yeah, I mean when I was undefeated, that was
me every single fight, and afterI lost my first one, it wasn't
as easy.
I was struggling early.
But now this last fight was thefirst one I was like I got this
.
I had won three straight andnot one of those three where I
was like it's for sure I coulddo it.
That's like 100.
(12:07):
It's always like I could win, Icould do it.
And this one, warming up, Ifelt like everything has
culminated to this point where Iam at my best now, and it took
20 years, so we figured it outand then we put it all together
and now I just feel like, ifthey can't force an error out of
me, I'm going to win.
I just have to be myself.
And I finally reached thatpoint of acknowledgement of my
(12:33):
own skills and my own abilitiesthat I have the confidence I can
go out there and beat anybody.
Aaron Pete (12:38):
And how much did it play in when you're seeing those
odds?
I've heard it said that likefighters can be sensitive about
those things and I know likelots 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 yourshow.
I know ariel hawani infamouslydoesn't like making picks
because that can actually offendfighters and go like why would
I come on your show if you'rebetting against me, if you think
(13:00):
I'm not gonna win?
So how much?
How much does that play intoyour mindset?
Does it have a negative impact?
Sounds like you had a reallygood mindset going into it, but
those odds they can eat away atyou.
Aiemann Zahabi (13:11):
Yeah, I didn't know the actual numbers, I just
knew I was an underdog becauseyou know, like there was a whole
, the whole thing about JamesKrause and his team maybe fixing
fights and stuff.
So basically the UFC sent outan email saying that fighters
and their friends and familycan't bet on the fights, right?
So, like nobody around me tellsme the numbers because I don't
want to get in trouble.
(13:32):
So, like I told everybody, ifanybody's I don't know about
anything about betting, I don'twant to get in trouble with the
UFC or like the commissions oranything like that.
So nobody around me tells menumbers which is good, because
they do hurt emotionally right.
So I knew that I was an underdog, but I didn't know by how much.
And I think the most offendedwas Firas.
(13:52):
Firas could not believe how bigthe numbers were.
He was shocked, he took offense.
He took big offense to it, butme, I'm just happy to prove
everyone wrong.
Aaron Pete (14:03):
That's fantastic.
Do you think that that's alsoapplicable to other people?
Like I find that I do betterwhen I start to think of the
naysayers, the people who didn'tthink I was going to graduate
high school, the people thatthought I was going to join a
gang.
I get fuel from thinking thatpeople don't believe in me and I
feel like that's a certainpercent, and then believing in
(14:24):
yourself is also a certainpercent, but that having the
naysayers is almost key towanting to go out and prove them
wrong.
Aiemann Zahabi (14:31):
Yeah, I agree, I think it's great fuel, but you
know, some people let it crushthem.
Some people use it as fuel, soit's it's either one person or
the other, but me I use it asfuel.
Well, yeah, we doubled up onthe cardio because in his three
wins in the UFC he won decisionsin all of them.
(14:54):
So we thought, more likely thannot, we're going to go all the
way, the whole 15.
So instead of doing becausenormally what I do is I do like
a martial arts practice and thenI have a second martial arts
practice and then I do myconditioning 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, thenanother practice and then
another conditioning.
(15:14):
So I was doing conditioninglike you wouldn't believe, like
it was crazy the amount of timesI was right and like people
were freaking out.
People like what are youtraining for?
What's going on here?
Like I don't think we've everdone it that hardcore.
And I'm happy because it paidoff, because you see, in round
three he gassed man and I didn'tgas.
He gassed and the commentatorsare saying in round one that
they did an interview with himon like the during the week and
(15:38):
he thought that the reason why Idon't throw a lot of strikes
it's because I'm afraid to gas.
I don't not throw a lot ofstrikes, I'm afraid to gas.
I don't throw a lot because I'mefficient.
If you look at the numbers afterthat fight, he threw like 50 or
60 strikes more than me, but Ioutstruck him, I out.
I landed more strikes than him,so I landed like 52 of my
strikes.
He landed like 28.
(15:58):
So, yeah, you're throwing allthis, all these strikes, but
you're not scoring, brother, yougotta score.
In the end you gotta score.
And the number one criteria towin a fight is who does the most
damage.
And he's hitting and moving andrunning and touching and going.
He's playing tight.
I'm not.
I was looking, like you cantell by his strikes.
There were thumps and I waslooking to put him out.
I was looking to put him out.
Aaron Pete (16:18):
Fascinating.
And so how do you feel afterthat win?
You're the man.
What's the next step after that?
Aiemann Zahabi (16:25):
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 thingsare going really, really well.
And uh, the ufc was happy withthe 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.
(16:45):
Still it's almost finished.
And uh had a lot of free timein the day so I was like
googling, youtubing how to dothis stuff and how to, you know,
buy the right equipment and andfilm 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 mysocials and really like trying
to expand my, my presence in thein the social media realm
(17:08):
brilliant.
Aaron Pete (17:09):
I want to get into get into that, but I just want
to ask do you have a next fightthat you imagine for yourself?
Do you know what that next steplooks like for you?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:16):
I'm hoping it's something like in the top 15
would be great, that would benice.
And for me I think Septemberwould be really good.
September, october, becauseRamadan, like you know, I'm not,
like you know, through a monkeywrench in my physical shape.
You know, like I'm not in thebest shape right now.
I'm only training once a day.
I'm not eating the best becauseI'm not drinking or eating all
day, so I'm pigging out at night.
(17:37):
And then I got to recover fromthat.
I got to start training again,get back into the routine of
things and just sharpen myskills back up to what they were
and I can be ready for like thefall, can be ready for like the
fall.
Aaron Pete (17:47):
I have a cursory understanding of Ramadan.
Would you mind explaining itfor people who might not know?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:52):
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, thedifference between Ramadan and
the other type of fasting isthat when you fast for like
weight loss and stuff, you'redrinking water all day, you can
(18:14):
have your black coffee, you canhave some sodium, some
electrolytes in your water, butwhen you're drinking no liquids,
we have no liquids and no food.
It's a different type of hungerand you get, like these
different types of headachesfrom the dehydration.
And then when you sit down tohave your meal, there's no but
more appreciation for grocerystores, fast food, the ovens,
(18:37):
fridges everything tastesamazing.
You know, you, we take it forgranted how easy it is to snack
and drink all day and there'snothing that makes you more
grateful to have the you know,the ability to eat and drink
whenever you want.
The comforts of the West areamazing.
Aaron Pete (18:58):
What is the religious belief behind it?
What brings it about?
Aiemann Zahabi (19:02):
Basically, it's to keep you humble, to keep your
head on the swivel, becausewhen people start making a lot
of money or start moving up inthe world, they have a lot of
these comforts.
They forget what it's like tohave them taken away.
So it's mandatory for all of uswho practice uh islam to fast
during ramadan.
And it's to to humble you, toremember that there are people
(19:25):
out there still today, while youhave the comforts, while you
have the money, they can'tafford food, they don't have a
pair of shoes, they don't haveclothes, they don't have homes
to live in.
And it's a time for where youtell the stories of the prophets
, also during this time oframadan.
So you get to hear a lot abouttheir, their life stories, and
it's also humbling because a lotof the prophets started with
(19:46):
nothing.
You know they weren't bornkings.
The prophets, a lot of them,were poor.
So you get to hear all thesestories, even though you know
the Prophet Muhammad has.
There's a story about him andhe's walking in the middle of
the night during Ramadan and hesees a couple of his companions
strolling the night becausethey're sorry, the evening just
(20:08):
before they break their fast.
So they haven't broken theirfast and they're hungry.
So they're just walking aroundand just keeping their mind busy
and avoiding cheating andeating something.
And they're asking him how isyour fast going?
He says, you know it's goingwell.
I'm just out for a walk andthey're talking, chit-chatting
or whatever.
And he asked them how was yours?
(20:36):
And then they show him that theyhad the stones tied around
their bellies with ropes tosquish against their belly so
that they don't feel theirhunger 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 aroundhis waist.
So it's just, it's justinteresting to see how, like,
even then, they suffered.
You, prophet Muhammad, is themost revered prophet and he
suffered during Ramadan.
And if he's suffering, whycan't we suffer?
(20:57):
Why can't we take the time outto suffer?
And he was leading the empire,right.
So we should all take a chanceand humble ourselves for this
time and to remember that noteveryone can afford food and
water and clothes and homes andall these things.
Aaron Pete (21:11):
That's incredible.
Do you have any other storiesthat you like from the prophets?
Aiemann Zahabi (21:16):
Yeah, but I love the story of Noah.
Actually, the Islamic versionhas like a small little twist.
A little bit of a difference isthat when it's time to get on
the boat, noah tells his wifeand son to come on and write, to
go on with the animals andeveryone who's gonna believe in
God and get on the ship.
And his son refuses and hiswife refuses, and Noah and asks
(21:42):
God to change their minds.
And God says no, I can't changetheir minds.
They have free will.
You know, it's their choice.
They either come on the ship bytheir own will or they do, they
don't.
And so they decide, decide notto, and, uh, they don't go on
the boat and they die.
And it's a really interestingstory because I like I tell this
(22:03):
story to my kids every ramadan.
It's because, in the end, ifthey choose to follow god, it's
up to them.
I I'm gonna do my best to teachthem what I know and what I
learned, but their relationshipwith God is theirs, on their own
, you know.
And same thing for my wife,same thing for everybody.
So you can't go around tryingto force people to do what you
believe.
(22:23):
You just teach them what youknow and what you understand,
and if they take it, great.
If they don't take it, that'son them.
Aaron Pete (22:32):
It seems like you've also incorporated that.
In one of our previousconversations you talked about
helping people lose weight, andif they don't participate at a
certain point, it's like I can'ttrain you anymore, Because if
you're not going to agree to thepath, then I'm not going to
take responsibility for the lackof success you're seeing.
Aiemann Zahabi (22:50):
Yeah, exactly, not going to take responsibility
for the lack of success you'reseeing.
Yeah, exactly, I mean, thechoice 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 controlis your decisions and your
attitude about how you takethings right.
That's all you got.
So if you're not on board withmy 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 thatyou're gonna pay me that's
(23:12):
gonna make me take the money andjust try to motivate you.
I can't motivate you.
It is what it is.
You know the same thing forreligion, you know.
I teach what I can if you'renot down for it, and it is what
it is I know you're you're mrphilosophy, so I'm just curious
what are your thoughts on?
Aaron Pete (23:28):
on sam harris and his perspectives that there is
no free will?
Aiemann Zahabi (23:33):
Listen, I'm not a PhD neuroscientist like him,
but he's debated Muslim scholarsand other people before and you
know they've made fun of himfor his take especially on Islam
and things like that.
So, like I wouldn't have theskills to debate him in that
sense, but it's something thatwe all feel you sense, but it's
something that we all feel youknow, it's something that we all
(23:55):
feel in the end, uh, you know,for example, you could take
someone and kidnap them and beatthem and do all those things to
them, like, let's say, like thepeople in um, the people in
auschwitz, let's say, the peoplewho got killed and murdered by,
uh, the nazis, right, one ofthe people that they had in
those camps was, uh, victorfrankel and he wrote a book.
It's called the man's searchfor meaning and he talks about
(24:16):
it and he's like, look, theytook everything from us our
families, our homes, our money,our clothes.
They sleep us 21 people on alittle cramped bed, everyone's
sleeping sideways and on top ofeach other.
They feed us nothing but likewarmed up water with little bits
of vegetables, like nothing,nothing.
They're giving them literallythe bare minimum of everything,
(24:36):
but yet every day they decide towake up and do the work that is
asked of them.
Why?
Why do they get up and why arethey slaves to these nazis?
So why do they dig the dig thetrenches?
Why did they build therailroads?
Why did they help do whateverit 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 acouple of bullets in the back of
(24:59):
my head.
Why didn't they just say that?
Why didn't they just quit?
What is it about us humanbeings?
What is it that we have thatmakes us keep going?
And he talks about the answersin that book and, uh, one of
them, one of the answers, islove, you know, the hope of
seeing being reunited with yourwife or your children or your
loved ones.
And, and then the other answeris, like you know, seeing that
(25:24):
this is not the end and and um,and accepting that there will be
something greater after all ofthis right, something more than
this, something more that youcan come up after this on the
other side.
I haven't read the book inyears, but I remember he has
like two beautiful points aboutthat, you know.
And then so, like it's hard forme to, I can never debate this.
I don't know it well enough,but I know that those stories
(25:46):
from that book and things likethat that really made me feel
like free will is really theonly thing we can believe in,
right?
Aaron Pete (25:52):
I have to take personal accountability to you.
I, I, I did not do the threeday fast.
I tried, I tried, I tried twice.
Aiemann Zahabi (26:01):
Okay, okay, I have another.
I have another couple ofmotivating assets here for you.
Knuckle sandwiches.
Aaron Pete (26:12):
I, I.
So I of motivating assets herefor you Knuckle sandwiches.
So what my plan was, this wasthe vision, and we'll get there.
We're going to do this.
This is going to happen.
The vision now that I had was Iwas leading up to today and I
was going to have you on and Iwas going to eat my first meal
during the interview.
That was how it all set up.
And then I got to yesterday orthe the night before, and I
(26:34):
couldn't think.
Clearly I had such a horribleheadache.
So I have such sympathy forpeople going through ramadan
because I couldn't.
I think it might have beencaffeine withdrawals, but I I
had so much.
I had a meeting to go to and Icouldn'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 toquit, amon's going to call me
out, he's going to threaten mylife.
But I want to get through this.
I want to force myself throughthis.
(26:55):
I know it's possible.
It's just mental fortitude andI hit it and I just couldn't
think straight and I had to goto this meeting and I broke it
and I knew I was going todisappoint.
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 Ijust wanted to take personal
(27:15):
accountability no, no, noproblem, no problem.
Aiemann Zahabi (27:18):
But tell me so you've been fasting regularly
now, or what?
Aaron Pete (27:20):
yeah.
So I've always been like.
For the past couple of yearsI've done like one meal a day
for the most part and just doingit that way, and so two days
did almost right after we didour interview I was like, oh,
he's got me all hyped up, I'mgoing to do this.
And then I hit that two-daypoint and then I just broke it
out of laziness.
But the one yesterday was justpure.
(27:41):
I couldn't think straight, andso my new strategy is, as you
mentioned, you can do blackcoffee or caffeine pills, and so
I think it might've beencaffeine withdrawals that hit me
and I just couldn't get overthat lapse.
So I think the next one I'mgoing to be more prepared.
The next time you come on, I'mgoing to be having a having a
meal.
Aiemann Zahabi (27:59):
You should, man.
Yeah, black coffee doesn'tbreak your fast Cause it doesn't
spike your insulin.
You can have things that don'tspike your insulin Then.
Then you'll be okay.
Aaron Pete (28:07):
Yeah, I hit that point and then I had huge
admiration.
I know some people who aregoing through Ramadan and I was
eating a breakfast wrap in frontof them and they were like what
are you doing, you monster?
And I was like, okay, okay, I'msorry, my mistake, turned off
the camera.
Aiemann Zahabi (28:20):
You should try a dry fast one day.
It's interesting.
It's an interesting feeling,man.
It's an interesting feeling.
Aaron Pete (28:25):
Yeah, that's no water or anything, right yeah?
Aiemann Zahabi (28:29):
What would you say?
Aaron Pete (28:30):
the difference is from having water and having no
water Well the dehydration, soyou get that headache really
early on.
Aiemann Zahabi (28:36):
Oh, no yeah you got to deal with it all day.
But you know you're supposed tostill be nice, which is not
easy, right, because you'recranky 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 (28:49):
That is a really good lesson to have to avoid
that, because you have to becareful on how you communicate,
and it is a lesson in humilityand understanding and patience.
Yeah, the YouTube channel.
What made you get reallyexcited about starting it?
Aiemann Zahabi (29:03):
Yeah, yeah, you know like, uh, a lot of people
around me, uh, you've alwaysbeen telling me that you know
you should do your own channel.
You speak well, you answerquestions, well, maybe you can
do your own thing.
So I was like, yeah, okay.
And then after this win it wassuch a good win for my career
(29:24):
and I just feel so establishedwins in the UFC than I had
before the UFC Sorry, morefights, not wins, but more
fights in the UFC than I hadbefore.
So I was like you know what I'mestablished.
Now I have credibility.
I lived it, I've done it.
So I just feel like I haveenough credibility now to go on
there on socials and on YouTubeand give my opinions.
A lot of people say I had italready, but now, just mentally
(29:50):
for myself, I just feel likeI've accomplished enough to give
back to the community much more.
Aaron Pete (29:52):
Now, what's the pitch?
What's unique about youryoutube channel?
What are people tuning in for?
Aiemann Zahabi (29:56):
well, the first thing I started with is I'm
gonna start doing like watchparties and live streams.
So tune in to ufc 300.
I'm gonna have a watch partyhere in the house with my wife,
louis sanadakis and jordandeichler we're gonna have first
time we're to have four peopleon, so we're going to be
analyzing the fights and givingan alternate commentary, because
not everybody likes thecommentary that UFC provides.
So this is another way to watchthe fights and get commentary
(30:18):
from fighters and also my wife,who I call the casual, because
you know, what's great about mywife being on the show is that
she doesn't know everythingabout MMA, right, she's like the
mainstream person, so she asksa lot of questions that people
are too shy to ask when they'rein the room with fighters
Because that's such a dumbquestion.
But my wife, she's a casual.
We all know she's a casual, soit's all good if she asks.
(30:40):
And the people that follow, whowatch the live stream, they
appreciate her questions becausethey might be thinking to ask
that, but they're embarrassed toask me in the chat.
So she brings like a reallygood angle and plus she's funny
and things like that.
So it's great.
And then on top of that I'mgonna have another phase where
I'm gonna be doing liketechnique videos.
So I'm gonna teach her, youknow, different facets of
(31:00):
martial arts and how to do themsuccessfully in fight situation,
not just like the fluffy stuffpeople teach you but you never
actually could use.
I'm gonna use like fight levelskills will be taught on my
youtube channel and I'm going tohave another uh type of video
where I can do like reactionvideos and stuff like that and
like analyzing fights it'salways cool to see somebody step
(31:24):
out and try something new.
Aaron Pete (31:25):
What has been the biggest challenge in starting
this youtube channel?
Aiemann Zahabi (31:29):
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 sureI have like, let's see, like now
you see my wall.
But like now I finally figuredout how to use my green screen.
Again I'm getting a greenscreen so you don't see my back,
you just see me, and that'swhen I'm imposed on a video.
I don't obstruct anything.
So just learning the skills ofthe trade and then dealing with
(31:52):
the youtube suppression rightnow.
Youtube suppression, likebecause I don't have a lot of
followers as subscribers.
I mean like when you type in myname, my channel doesn't come
up.
Like my channel comes in likethe fourth page right because I
have interviews with like youand channels and they have a lot
of views.
So I'm getting cracked by myown interviews on other people's
(32:14):
shows.
So it's pretty funny.
So I have to make sure I sendpeople the link or I tweet my
link or I put on Instagram thelink so people can find me,
because nobody can find me onYouTube right now.
So I feel like eventually, as Ibuild a following, it'll
snowball.
Aaron Pete (32:29):
What's the channel actually called?
Aiemann Zahabi (32:31):
Called Aman Zahabi Official.
I had it originally Aman Zahabiand it was hell to find me.
I added official because, likeon my interviews and stuff,
official is not there.
So I tried to like make it sothat it's easier to find
Slightly easier, but not mucheasier.
Aaron Pete (32:47):
Right and what has been your favorite part of
starting it like?
What have you grown the most inor what do you look most
forward to in doing this?
Aiemann Zahabi (32:54):
I'm excited to chat with the fans and, uh, get
into some more dialogue in thecomment.
In the comments, you know likeI'm interested to, like I love
the lives, like the watch partythat's my favorite right now
because, like, I like to chitchat with the people, like when
they in, I like to answer theirquestions as the fights are
happening.
If they ask me what the fightercould do, I can tell them right
away Things that people areinterested in, whereas when you
(33:17):
listen to on Pay-Per-View or onthe Sportsnet you don't have a
dialogue with the commentarybooth.
It's hard for Joe Rogan toexplain it to you while the
triangle is happening or theescapes are happening or
whatever.
But in the chat you can ask mespecifically about what's going
on and during my commentary andmy analysis I can respond to you
personally.
So I feel like that's a reallynice touch and I'm excited to do
(33:40):
that with more people.
Aaron Pete (33:41):
Are you going to do any interviews, because I think
you'd be very interesting to getother fighters' perspectives on
things.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:49):
So yeah, I'm planning on it.
I just haven't decided what theformat is gonna be.
So like I want to interviewthem, but like kind of like you,
in the sense where, like Idon't want to just talk about,
you know, the superficial stuff,I want to get into something
more in depth, but I haven'tfound my that angle yet.
So once I find my angle, I'mgoing to start, but I haven't
(34:10):
figured out the questions yet.
Aaron Pete (34:12):
I don't know if the name philosophy of fighting has
started, but I feel like that'sright up your alley.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:17):
Thank you, man.
I appreciate it.
My brother's going to fight mefor that one.
I'm sure we call him thephilosopher king.
Aaron Pete (34:24):
Oh, interesting, and do you think he's going to be
attending in any of your videosor anything like that?
Aiemann Zahabi (34:30):
I'm hoping so.
You know like eventually I'mjust trying to build up my
skills for YouTube now, before Ihave a big fish like my brother
on.
Aaron Pete (34:37):
Right.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:38):
Because you know he's got like 250,000
subscribers.
So I want to be good and thenI'll get him on.
You know, I'm hoping to get GSPon 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 certainlevel of skills and mastery of
what I do before I bring in someheavy hitters.
Aaron Pete (34:56):
That's exactly how I felt when I started Start local
, start small, figure out thelittle things, figure out the
thumbnails, figure out the audioand all of that, and then look
outwards.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:08):
Yeah, because first impressions matter.
Like if I have my brother onand everything runs smoothly and
good and he gets a, you know itgoes well and we get good
feedback.
I'm sure he's going to love tobe on the second time.
But if I'm all clunky this andthat, even though we're family,
let me tell you something man.
That guy's busy, you know, itis what it is.
(35:32):
So, I really want to the otherchannels that they would go on
Brilliant and anything else bigcoming up.
No, not yet, man, just moreYouTube for now.
More YouTube and like, oh, Imight.
Actually my sweetbrother-in-law just bought me a
nice PlayStation 5, which hesurprised me with, so maybe I
might do a little Twitch thing.
We're going to see.
Aaron Pete (35:46):
That's a possibility .
Amazing.
No trips planned or anythinglike that yet.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:50):
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 becauseone of my fighters, one of my
friends, saeed Yakub Kakramanovhe's actually one of the guys I
brought in for training camp forthis last fight and he's
fighting karate combat.
He's fighting a guy named Y2KFairtex, who's got 300 fights in
Muay Thai, and he's fightinghim April 20th and yeah, so I'm
(36:16):
going to be there April 15th,april 22nd.
Aaron Pete (36:19):
Fantastic.
That sounds like it's going tobe a blast.
Have you ever been there before?
Aiemann Zahabi (36:22):
I've never been.
I'm actually trying to set up aseminar now so I can hopefully
teach over there.
One of my friends has a gym outthere, so I'd love to teach
somewhere now at his gym.
Nordin, I messaged you onInstagram.
Answer back yeah, so I'd loveto be on that and get to meet
some of the people there.
See the sites.
I'm really excited to visit theGrand Mosque in Abu Dhabi as
well, so I might take a tripover there.
(36:44):
I'm really excited to go visit.
Aaron Pete (36:46):
That sounds fantastic.
Eamon, it's always a pleasureto sit down with you.
Thank you.
You get me all excited.
You get me motivated to getback in the gym and start
working hard.
I always appreciate yourinsights.
I highly recommend people gocheck out your YouTube channel.
I just think you're such avaluable voice on how we can
develop personally, so kudos toyou for starting that.
Aiemann Zahabi (37:06):
Thank you and I appreciate you man.
I appreciate you having me onall the time and doing such
great interviews.
Thank you, guys.
Aaron Pete (37:11):
No problem, please don't beat me up in the near
future, I'm going to do the fast, don't worry Please.
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