May 26, 2025 • 45 mins
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.
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Episode Transcript
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Aaron Pete (00:00):
This week's guest just shook up the world with a
win against Jose Aldo on May10th in Montreal, canada, for
UFC 315.
We explore his big win, hismindset and what the future
holds for this bantamweightcontender.
My guest today is the king ofMontreal, mr Amon Zahabi.
Amon, it's so good to have youback on.
(00:25):
Anything new been going on?
What's what's new with youthese 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 Ihad you.
I put the money on you.
I'm so happy for you.
Congratulations, good sir.
Thank you, I put the money onyou.
I'm so happy for you.
Congratulations, good sir.
Aiemann Zahabi (00:45):
Thank you, man.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the vote ofconfidence.
You know a lot of haters afterthe fight, a lot of doubters
before, but you know, the storycontinues.
I'm excited now to move on tothe next one.
Aaron Pete (00:56):
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 aretirement fight or something.
And I was like this is atremendous 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 stillpeople are like, oh, what about
(01:17):
this, what about that?
And it's like just celebratethe man for the absolute victory
and how you showed your heartin that fight.
I'm just, I couldn't be morehappy for you.
Aiemann Zahabi (01:26):
Thank you, man.
You know that's exactly how Ifeel in the end.
It's like the ones who areupset are more like either
casuals or people who I ruinedtheir parlays or their bets or
something like that.
But you know, all the truefighters are all happy that I
ended up getting my hand raised.
You know, the story just makesthe most sense.
Aaron Pete (01:47):
I couldn my hand raised.
You know the story just makesthe most sense.
I couldn't agree more.
I come to you for sage advice,wisdom.
I find you have a really goodphilosophy on things.
I put you and corey sanhagenright there with, like your
insights on the game, on how youtake fighting and apply it to
life, and it's just something Ireally admire and I'm always
excited to speak with you about.
And you talked a lot aboutworking with a mental coach, uh,
and some of the superstitionsthat you had.
(02:07):
So I'm wondering if you cantalk about choosing to work with
a mental coach, how thatdecision came about and and how
you find somebody who's maybethe right fit to work with you
about your mental game yeah,well, I hired the mindset Mike
because my friend suggested itfor me.
Aiemann Zahabi (02:23):
Like, listen, I gotta coach for everything else,
right?
So why not have a coach for themind?
Because, in the end, the finalpiece 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 whocan have me run through a system
that guarantees that I'm goingto be performing my best on the
(02:46):
night, that counts.
Why not take that advantage,right?
So that's kind of the reasoningbehind hiring him.
Because you know to be great.
It's about repeating thatgreatness over and over again.
You know, if you're great onenight, who cares?
You got to keep repeating thegreatness for people to be like,
oh wow, how does he keep beinggreat?
That's what really makes peoplelove you, right?
(03:08):
So that's kind of like thereasons why I wanted to hire one
.
And so far, like the two timeswe worked together, I had no
doubt that I was going toperform well because my mind was
so clear.
You know, I knew exactly what Ineeded to do, and especially in
this last one, where I ran intosome trouble near the end and I
used some of the techniques tomake sure that I end up on top.
Aaron Pete (03:32):
One piece that you've mentioned in previous
interviews was that you hit astreak if things started to go
the right way.
In the previous interview wedid.
We talked about how, like, youhad hit three in a row and you
were very nervous on whether ornot you could keep that going or
not, or or what that meant, oror how many people are able to
carry that into four or five,and and what that actually looks
like.
And then the other piece youhad mentioned was around having
(03:53):
your family come to these thatyou had found the streak and
then and then changing thingslike you don't know how much
that plays a role.
How?
What was the process to getover those things?
Because I think we all havethose in certain moments right
where we we think we did it oneway, so it has to be done that
way again.
How did you overcome that?
Aiemann Zahabi (04:09):
yeah, you're right, I forgot to answer the
superstition part, but uh, yeah,so there was.
Like you know, obviously allathletes have their like
superstitions.
You're not really you're notsupposed 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 anathlete, I'm part of the
athletic culture, sports culture.
(04:30):
You know we end up falling forthe trap of these superstitions
and my mindset coach reallyhelped me get out of that, in
the sense that one has nothingto do with the other.
Right, like my wife coming tothe event, how can it really
affect my fight?
You know, it doesn't doanything to affect my fight.
The only way, the only thing isbecause I, you know, I care
(04:51):
about her, I want to make sureshe has a good time and all that
stuff, yeah, but in the end shedoesn't affect the fight.
And, um, you know, doing thingsa certain way or winning in a
streak, each fight is on its ownright.
Each individual fight hasnothing 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 pastinto this fight and I don't need
(05:14):
to bring the worries of thefuture into the fight.
Right.
The more I'm present, the lessstress I'm actually gonna have,
you know.
So, like that's kind of likewhat helped me break my
superstitions, and not havingany superstitions makes you a
lot more go with the flow.
So that's another way to.
I'm even less stressed nowBecause I don't need things to
(05:34):
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 arisethat bothers you too much.
Because you're willing to adapt.
You know that you're going tobe able to.
I have the capability to adapt,so I'm confident in myself.
Aaron Pete (05:53):
We've got to get a shirt that says something like
present over perfection, orsomething like that.
Aiemann Zahabi (05:58):
Yeah, exactly Because you know adversity is
going to find you, no matterwhat you do.
It'll come in an unsuspectedway, and it's just good to have
a plan to deal with it insteadof hoping it never comes and
there's something about thatyou're.
Aaron Pete (06:14):
You're almost fighting yourself in those ways
and having to like, let go ofthose instincts that it has
something to do with somethingelse, right, because so often we
feel like the outcome matterson whether or not you did this
or that, and and if it doesn't,then your mental game's all
messed up, right, and thatleaves you vulnerable to like,
oh, I didn't eat my breakfast atthis exact time and so now I'm
(06:35):
not going to be as successful.
Well, now you're going inthinking 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 (06:49):
I don't want to be tied to anything, I want to
be independent of everything, sothat way I can just move as I
need to move given thecircumstances.
Aaron Pete (07:00):
The one thing that really blew me away, and even
just the response.
I watched your interview withAriel Hawani.
It just feels like everybody'sglossing over the fact that this
guy missed weight by a very,very significant amount the day
before the fight Not aninsignificant amount of time
before the fight.
In other circumstances I feellike people would be outraged
(07:22):
and I have a great deal ofadmiration and respect for Jose
Aldo, but it just seems likethis is just like.
No, we're just going to focuson how you respond and you
should be figuring like what isgoing on.
This is just to surprise me.
Usually people are off by apound and people react, and this
is like more than eight poundsthat this fight got changed and
(07:42):
the reaction has been very timidin reaction to other fighters.
It's much larger.
Aiemann Zahabi (07:48):
Yeah, I'm surprised that no one is being
harsh on Aldo.
My brother told me not to beharsh because he's never missed
weight before right, so I willnot attack him for it.
But I find it weird like you'resaying that they're attacking
me in the sense that you've gotto just deal with it, man.
But no, I don't really have todeal with it.
(08:10):
Actually, technically, thefight's off.
You know, I'm doing ufc favor.
I'm doing, you know, the fansof favor.
I'm doing montreal favor.
I'm taking the opportunity.
I'm risking everything, man.
You know like I'm riskingeverything and like aldo can
damage me in there and foreverybody, even before the fight
, people tell me not to hurt himbecause they love him so much.
It's like, you see, soccerkicked me in the head.
He's trying to literally kickmy head off my shoulders, you
know.
So I just feel like, um, he'ssuch a global superstar that, uh
(08:34):
, people love him that much.
You know, people just love himso much and he's blessed to have
that and, uh, hopefully one daypeople will love me that much.
You know, if, hopefully, that'slike that's what I want, but
yeah, it is a really big deal inboxing it would never happen.
Aaron Pete (08:49):
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 youcame to these two pieces?
You've outlined two things onmultiple interviews, one that,
uh, what's his name?
Uh, the the boxer, chris Eubankwas on 0.05, like 0.05 pounds,
(09:12):
and had to pay a half a milliondollars.
That was one example.
And then the other piece wasthat, soldiers, when you cut
that amount of weight, you loseon the performance piece, and
I've never heard a fighterrespond so thoughtfully to like
being questioned on the.
Where did you get thatinformation and and just what
was the reaction that you foundto to those important statistics
(09:33):
?
Aiemann Zahabi (09:34):
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 fightbecause 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 ofmoney, man.
That is a lot of money for 0.5.
(09:58):
No, sorry, 0.05.
Oh, whatever, yeah, you knowwhat I mean.
That's like minuscule,miniscule, exactly so if you
think about it, it's, it's crazy.
I thought, with like over sixpounds difference, right, and
then the the study is because mybrother's always doing research
on like what's the bestpractices for to, to, to make
sure that we we get throughtraining camp without getting
(10:20):
hurt and to optimize ourconditioning.
So my brother always tells usto make sure that we show up to
practice hydrated, because every2% of dehydration we come to
practice we're going to have areduction of performance by 6%,
and if you do that every day,you're not going to be preparing
at your best to have your bestnight on fight night.
So, like my brother had donethe research, just so that we
(10:40):
can improve for the team, youknow.
So we can all come always wellprepared for practice, so we
don't get hurt or we don'tunderperform in the gym, so that
we can perform properly.
So it's stuff we already know.
So, like an eight-pounddifference, it's huge because
I'm a lot of percentage down inwater than he is.
So my performance percentage isgoing to be way worse than his.
(11:05):
You know I'm not going to beperforming as good as he is and
like I was telling the otherjournalists that in my opinion
and I'm not saying this as aninsult to him, but that although
at 45 is more robust thanalthough at 35, and I think the
reason why he can withstand moredamage at 45 and has better
(11:25):
cardio and strength and all thatstuff at 45, it's because he
didn't have to lose nine poundsmore of water.
When he comes to 35, he losesanother nine pounds of water.
It affects his performance.
That's what the whole studyexplains, right.
So that's why he's not asperformative in the 35 weight
class.
So when I took the fight, youknow, I thought it would be more
(11:46):
likely to break him.
Yeah, at 35.
So I was like, yeah, well, I'llfight Aldo.
You know he's breakable at 35.
At 45, you know he's a beast.
He's still a beast at 35, butnot as much of a beast.
You know, and I'm not trying toinsult him by saying that but
everybody who cuts eight poundsmore is more susceptible to
breaking than somebody who cutseight pounds less.
(12:08):
If you take the same guy andyou cut eight pounds less, he's
more robust.
That and you cut eight poundsless, he's more robust.
That's just science for me.
I wouldn't think of that as aninsult.
Basically is what?
Aaron Pete (12:18):
I'm trying to say Absolutely.
And then I don't know if peoplerealize that when you're
cutting to that extent, yourbody does start to try and
conserve energy.
And from what I've heard fromother fighters is that when you
try and start to gain thatweight back, if you do that too
quickly, then you start yourbody starts to respond
negatively because it can't takein that much nutrients that
(12:39):
quickly and you had to start togain a ton of weight really
quickly.
Can you walk us through thatprocess and and how you do
something like that thoughtfullyand so you can't just start
eating Big Macs.
You've got to be very mindfulof how you gain that weight back
, because it can have a negativeimpact on you yeah, so like, uh
.
Aiemann Zahabi (12:55):
So basically what happened was is that
special rule in montreal?
Or if there's a five pounddifference, five pounds or more,
excuse me, uh, the fight's off.
There's no, there's no wayyou're putting a fight together.
So I had to start drinkingwater during the negotiations.
They wouldn't let me weigh inat 136.8, so I started
rehydrating and, like I don'tknow if I've told you, but like
(13:17):
on my 5-5 win streak, every oneof 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, youknow what?
We started even slower becausewe got even more time.
So we got that extra hour.
So I started with eating like abagel and drinking some water
and I got I just made that fivepound, added the five pounds
(13:38):
that we needed so that the fightcould be okay.
So then we went downstairs andFrost wanted to negotiate with
Sean Shelby and we ended upmaking a deal.
So it was nice.
Aaron Pete (13:50):
Interesting.
I'm wondering how does it?
How did you feel in that momentwhere you were trying to
resolve that?
Aiemann Zahabi (13:56):
Oh it was brutal , I was so mad.
Aaron Pete (14:00):
I can't imagine.
And you just think, when peoplego in for a job interview or
something and you want it to allwork out, you couldn't have
imagined that thesecircumstances would come up.
But you're trying to put on.
For so many people, All of thehope and expectation is on you
and like, as much as I'm sureyou were willing to take that on
, there's also just a piecewhere it's like, hey, you did
(14:22):
your job, you were doing yourjob.
And like, yeah, it may havebeen 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 asignificant amount and he could
have alerted people far earlier, I'm guessing, than he did.
And so, like it's all on youand 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
(14:44):
fact that you were kicked in thehead.
You put your body at risk yourfamily sitting in the crowd
watching you try and perform andthe odds are stacked against
you.
Out watching you try andperform and the odds are stacked
against you, like this was notan insignificant decision to
make it.
How did you process all of theemotions that must have come
from that?
Aiemann Zahabi (14:59):
yeah, well, you know well, now that you fasted
for so long, you know what it isto be dehydrated a little bit.
You get irritated, like whenyou lose all that water and
you've dieted so hard, and likethat.
You know, from starting on tthey try to eliminate carbs from
my diet.
I'm only eating protein.
So like when I'm down at 136.8and I get the news, I am furious
(15:19):
because I can't control myemotions 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 notto get emotional at all during
fight week.
I try to be numb to everythingas much as possible.
The more I'm detachedemotionally, the better I will
perform.
So that's normally how I takeit.
But when I was starting to behydrating, I started getting a
(15:43):
much clearer head and Frost waskeeping me calm and he's like
okay, let's just talk aboutwhat's the biggest risk of the
whole thing, of that much of aweight difference.
And for me and what I told myteam and the guys around me is
that look, my main concern isbecause I'm more dehydrated than
him.
Will I be able to withstand thesame amount of damage he can
(16:05):
withstand or is he going to beable to take punches and kicks
and knees better than I can?
Because he didn't cut so low?
Because you know, when youdehydrate 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, Idon't know what gets rehydrated
(16:26):
first and to what extent, andlike how much, of how much am I
really at 100%?
You know, science doesn't knowthat.
They don't know man, they wantyou to hit these numbers because
that means you're hydrated,because you weigh this much.
But you know, is my brain goingto withstand the same amount of
impact as him, or am I comingin there a little bit more
fragile than him?
That's why I was telling youabout the you know, aldo.
(16:48):
At 45, he's more durable than heis at 35.
Because you know he cut 8pounds more to make 35.
He's not going to be as durable.
So I felt like what's going tohappen is because we have to
change the weight class to 45,you're getting an Eamon Zahabi
bantam and you're getting a JoseAldo featherweight.
So I'm fighting him atfeatherweight but I'm a
(17:10):
bantamweight and he's afeatherweight.
So I'm fighting him atfeatherweight, but I'm a
bantamweight and he's afeatherweight, so that was kind
of like the biggest concern, youknow.
So that's why we ended upchanging the game plan to a much
more conservative round onethan I expected.
Normally the game plan was toput it on him, but we changed
the game plan just to make surethat when he hits me I don't get
(17:31):
flatlined right away, so justto feel it out for longer than
expected, just to make sure thatI don't get anything too
surprising you got hit, uh andkicked multiple times in the
face, which I just cannotimagine.
Aaron Pete (17:45):
Yeah, and I'm wondering.
You talked a little bit abouthow, like, you got to show your
heart in this fight and I'mwondering what did you learn
about yourself in this war?
Yeah, well, you know, like Iknew, I was going to show my
heart in this fight and I'mwondering what did you learn
about yourself in this war?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:55):
yeah, well, you know, like I knew I was going to
show my heart, no matter whatin this fight, and if it went,
if it went really well, you knowI was expecting to, you know,
to like punish him, you know,like get on top and ground and
pound or whatever it was, or kohim.
And people are going to knowthat I'm resilient because the
game plan will start strong,strong and fight to the end.
But you know, it was nice toshow my heart because, you know,
(18:17):
getting dropped in a weird wayand getting soccer kicked and
going through that whole ordeal,I'm actually grateful for it,
man.
I'm actually super gratefulthat it happened.
And I'll tell you the firstreason I'm grateful is because
when I came out of the hellfire,I stayed calm, cool and
collected, and when he came intothe Hellfire, he fell apart,
(18:39):
man, and he broke Physically andmentally.
He fell apart and I did not, man, you know he was the one with
41 fights, he was the eight-timeworld champion, but when it
came down to it, I was a muchbetter nail than he was.
He's only a good hammer, youknow.
So, like I feel like now I'mgetting a lot of respect from
(19:03):
fighters, coaches, like peoplein the know, people who watch
the fight for real, not casualswho just you know, taking a look
here and there at the screen,but people who watch that fight,
who paid attention, who knowwhat fighting is.
Everyone gives me my respectnow, you know.
So, like I feel really good, Ifeel blessed that it happened
the way it did.
I want to thank God for keepingme awake and making sure I
(19:25):
didn't get KO'd in that moment.
And, you know, I'm proud ofmyself for keeping a clear head,
regathering myself, makingspace, catching my breath and
putting it on him and winningthe last three minutes.
Aaron Pete (19:37):
Can you just walk us through really quickly that
piece, because you've said it afew times and I apologize for
asking you to repeat it, but howyou go about you got knocked
down and you talked about how Ithink it was your mental coach
who said first you have to likegather yourself, then the first
15 seconds.
Can you walk us through that,because I love that.
Aiemann Zahabi (19:55):
Yeah.
So my mindset coach, you knowwe always talk about like also
worst case scenario.
Uh, one thing I've come to theconclusion is is that if you
only think that only positivethings can happen for you,
you're delusional.
Like adversity is coming, andit comes when you don't want it
to come and, uh, you need a plan, right?
So you always ask me what'syour plan?
You know he didn't give me theplan.
(20:17):
He tells me what's your plan,like how would you deal with
something that happens?
You know, and I always tell himlike, for me it's about making
space, catching my breath andwinning the next exchange and
then winning the next 15 secondsand then winning the 15 seconds
after that, and just like microgains, until I turn the tide
back in my favor.
(20:37):
You know, that's basically how Isee it, so like things are
going to happen in the fightsthat I don't want them to happen
, because there are so manyballs to juggle and there are so
many banana peels out therethat, even though you're
juggling all these balls,there's something that's going
to happen.
You don't, though you'rejuggling all these balls or
something's gonna happen.
You don't see, you're gonnaslip and all of a sudden they're
gonna go flying and you'regonna catch them all and put
(20:58):
them all back in order, and Ifelt like I was able to do that
against aldo and he was not ableto turn things around for
himself when I got going oh, itwas two times from my
perspective that he lost one onthe scale and then one in the
fight, right like yeah therewere like just even you.
Aaron Pete (21:12):
You pointed out that he would have better cardio and
I don't know what was going onin that third round, but I
didn't see any cardio comingfrom him on that side that he
was laying down and you had himin and you were in a very
dominant position.
And if we were in pride rules?
that would have looked very,very different, you know.
So the other piece that I justwanted to like reflect on from
my perspective, that you showedsome of it was circumstance, but
(21:35):
there was a Canadian spiritthere that I just saw from you.
How you approached him, notmeeting the weight like how you
approached these challenges whenthe fight was put on, like you
were incredibly respectful ummore so than than I was to
people within my friend groupwhere I was like I do not like
this.
So you were kind and thoughtfuland respectful towards him
(21:58):
throughout the process.
You wanted to put on for Canada, you wanted to show out.
You faced adversity and youovercame.
And I don't know if you've seenthis on X and on other social
media platforms, but it seemslike there's a big question
right now, like what does itmean to be a Canadian?
And the way you showed up, theway you approached conversations
, just that that gave me thatspirit of like that's what it
(22:20):
means to be a canadian notrunning his name through social
media, not complaining, notpulling out of the fight, like
taking all of the challengesthat you faced, absorbing it and
then still showing out andbeing respectful and kind to
everybody involved yeah, thanks,I appreciate that.
Aiemann Zahabi (22:34):
You know, and, uh, you know, I'm blessed to
have a strong team and havereally good mentors, like for us
incredible mentor, and so isgeorge, and my mindset coach is
incredible, you know, and eveneven my manager has a good
mindset.
You know my friends, my friendjordan is, you know, he's with
me all the time and we have agood mindset.
Everyone has a good mindset.
And when we were doing thenegotiations with Sean Shelby,
(22:59):
frost took charge of thenegotiations and he gave us a
number and Frost was talking theterms and Frost told me he's
like look, he's like, if youaccept the terms, that's it.
We're fighting Aldo.
You know what I mean.
There's no excuse about theweight.
There's no shitting on aldo.
There's no talking bad abouthim.
(23:19):
He's never missed weight before.
We have to give him his respect.
He's a legend.
We don't know why he missedweight.
So, uh, if you decide to do it,you're allowed to speak.
The facts say that there's aweight difference.
Explain your side, explain thegravity of the adversity that
we're facing, but he's likewe're not gonna throw aldo under
(23:40):
the bus.
You know, you're facing the.
You're facing this adversity.
Yes, we explain for what it is.
But keep all those, keep, don't,don't muddy all those name.
You know, because we didn'tknow you know he's.
You know we really don't knowwhy he missed, you know.
So it's hard to uh, you know uhtalk bad about a legend like
that.
You know he, he paved the wayfor me to make a payday, like I
(24:03):
just did, you know.
And uh, in the end, because hemissed the weight, I made more
money, way more money than I wassupposed to make.
So like I benefited from it inthe 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 hisname now.
(24:25):
But you know Frost has a goodhead on his shoulders and he
told me not to do it before thefight happened or after, no
matter what the outcome was.
Aaron Pete (24:39):
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 wasready to just ready, just to do
what I did.
Now I know a lot of peopledon't have someone to lean on
when they have those types ofchallenges, like when they have
challenges come up and they needsome sage advice.
Again, as you were describing,you're dehydrated.
This is unexpected news you'rehaving to take in.
How does it feel to be able tohave somebody to lean on in
(25:09):
those circumstances to give youreally good, thoughtful advice
and kind of support you throughthat process and give you
insights that maybe are tough tohear at first.
Right, like immediately whenyou hear that Aldo didn't make
weight and you're dealing withall 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 thatwould be my initial reaction.
How does it feel to havesomebody support that and then
you be able to take that in assage advice?
Aiemann Zahabi (25:35):
Yeah, like, you're right, it uh, it's, it's
amazing.
You know, it's really importantto have, like I talk to guys
all the time about, like, if youreally want to make it, you
need to surround yourself with agood team.
You know, and uh, the thepeople you choose to keep around
are really gonna shape yourfuture, because you're gonna be
influenced by the way they thinkright.
So, like, my brother told meall that, but I could have told
him you know what?
Yeah, okay, whatever, and Istill talk trash about Aldo I
(25:57):
have to also accept what theysay and also, you know, like I
have to respect what they say.
I can hear it, but it doesn'tnecessarily mean I'm going to
take their advice.
I have a million fighters on myteam 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.
And even when I called GSP afterand I told him I accepted the
terms and we told him whathappened the first thing that he
said was this is the best thingthat ever happened to you.
(26:20):
He's like, the story is goingto be amazing when you beat Aldo
and you beat him when he wasoverweight, and you do this and
you do that, he's likeeveryone'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'sgo.
So I was happy.
You know, it's nice, like it'snice, to have people who believe
in me that much and also peoplewho guide me to do things in a
(26:43):
way that you know, in the endthey were right and I feel happy
to be this guy now.
Aaron Pete (26:52):
I couldn't agree more.
It has been amazing to watchpeople's response to you and
excitement and the respect beingput on your name because you
deserved it the whole time.
But some people are just wakingup to it.
You mentioned GSP and youmentioned this and I feel like
this should be a headline frommy perspective.
He believes you could be thenext champ of the bantamweight
division.
This is very exciting to me.
(27:14):
I'm very happy to hear that hegave that feedback.
What did that mean to you andwas that just reaffirming?
Aiemann Zahabi (27:21):
Yeah, it means the world to me.
You know he's been telling methat for a long time and you
know I always have Frost andNeil 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 haveGeorge in, because you know,
aldo is such a megastar andpeople are going to love him so
much.
(27:41):
I thought, you know what, letme have George's aura around me
as well, and when George speaksto me, I try to listen as much
as possible, and he's not thekind of guy to sugarcoat
anything or to pump your tiresfor no reason, right?
So when he tells me something,I believe him.
And uh, it was.
We had a really cool momentactually, uh, backstage where,
(28:03):
uh, like I had done my warm-up,everything was done and I was
waiting to walk out, but thenthey did the v-tour special.
So when they did like thev-tour, like hall of fame
announcement and video montage,they told us, okay, look, you
were supposed to walk out, butwe're gonna give you, we're
gonna have to wait another 10minutes.
So it was like 10 minutes ofdead time.
So I was just pacing back andforth and, uh, just be standing
there.
And they were showing like, uh,you know the vtor footage and
(28:27):
whatever.
And I was just going through myhead like what's gonna happen
and I just smile and just bestanding there and I just start
pounding on his chest and I'mlike George Aldo's coming out
hard, boom, boom.
But we're gonna be ready, boom,boom.
And I'm like I'm not worriedabout him, boom, boom.
I was just banging on his chest, I was talking to him and
banging on his chest and he waslike he was feeling that
excitement and I can't, I can'twait for this moment, you know.
(28:49):
And then I'm placing back somemore and then they put a
highlight reel of the next UFCand it's going to be Murat
versus Sean O'Malley and Georgepoints at me.
He's like you know, it doesn'tstop 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 meup and I couldn't wait for the
(29:12):
fight and I had never been inthe blue corner before.
It's the first time I've everbeen in the blue corner.
I've never been in the octagonor in a fight.
First Always come second.
I've always been in the redcorner.
It just worked out that, but itdid.
And this is the first time I'mstanding there in the arena and
I was looking around, I wastaking it all in and they were
still playing my music and I waslike you know what, man, this
(29:34):
is nowhere else I'd rather be.
So I turn around and I seeFrost.
I walk up to him and I grab himby the hand and I tell him
there's no, I love this shit, Ijust go, I love this.
I went up to Neil, I grabbedhis hand.
I said I love it.
Then I walked over to BruceBuffer.
I shook his hand.
I told him I love it.
He's like, brother, you've gotit.
(29:55):
That's what Bruce Buffer toldme.
And I felt like, yeah, and Igrabbed the referee's hand for
Alvo to step into this octagon,just so we could get started.
Man, I couldn't wait for it tohappen.
And then it was good, you know,I didn't get iced out.
Actually, I used the moment tozone in even further.
Aaron Pete (30:16):
I love that and it somewhat reminds me I don't know
if you've seen Dan Hookersitting in the chair and he's
just in a tough first round, Ithink, and then he goes boys.
I love this shit.
And first round, I think, andthen he goes boys.
I love this shit and like he'sall bloodied up, his face is
just destroyed and he's likesoaking in that moment and it
just uh, ariel talks about thisa lot, but it just shows the
(30:39):
difference between you andeverybody else in the world,
right, because, like in thatmoment I'd be scared, I'd be
nervous, like I would feel likeI couldn't do what you do, like
I don't have that bone in mybody.
That goes like when all thelights are on, when all the
pressure's on you, when, whenthe moment's building up, I
imagine I'd bet a lot of moneythat I'd fold like a, like a ton
of bricks and and people likeyourself soak that in and use
that as energy and then aregoing into the fight even more
(31:02):
zoned in than you were before.
And I think that's reallyadmirable, particularly again
because your family's sittingright there.
Like there's always thosenerves, like, as you were
describing, take the first roundslow.
You don't know how he's goingto respond.
Like in those moments I just Idon't know how you do it and I
just I find that all soadmirable pressure is a
privilege to have it all on myback.
Aiemann Zahabi (31:25):
It's nobody else I'd rather count on.
You know what I mean.
I'd rather be the one takingthe shot.
I want to be the one in thegame.
I want to be the one making thedecisions.
I want to be the one scoringthe goals.
I want to be the one putting myhands on them.
You know what I mean.
I want that pressure.
I want everything.
The fact that I was in MontrealI loved it.
The fact that my family, myfriends, everyone gets to know
(31:45):
me.
It was a crazy, surreal feeling.
People were asking me how goodit felt before.
Before I didn't feel that good.
Honestly, it felt like nothing.
It felt like nothing you knowwhy?
Because I've got to go outthere and I've got to do it.
I've got to go out there andI've got to win it.
I've got to make it the bestnight of my life, or else it can
also be the one in control.
(32:06):
I'd rather be the one going outthere and doing it.
You know I don't want anybodyelse doing it for me, and I feel
like one day, when I retire, Ican 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.
(32:29):
So, like it's my hard work,it's my discipline, my
determination, my love for whatI do, and you know I'm happy
with the way everything turnedout.
Aaron Pete (32:32):
I feel like I couldn't have written a better
story.
Aiemann Zahabi (32:34):
I couldn't agree more.
I couldn't have written abetter way.
Aaron Pete (32:36):
And that's where, for me, like the thing that you
helped me learn about why I lovefighting so much, is because
you have this philosophy thatwe've talked about in other
interviews how you think aboutadversity, how you think about
your approach, how you processthe challenges and adversity,
and how you prepare and how youplan and and how you approach
all of those things build like apyramid so that there is this
(32:59):
moment where the lights are onyou, but you've done so much
underneath that build you upwhere you don't have to worry
because the foundation is rocksolid.
And that's what, to me, youhave is this rock solid
foundation.
So when adversity comes up,when things are unexpected,
you're still able to navigatethem, but because you've built
that solid foundation in whichto operate.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:22):
Yeah, I totally agree, man.
My base is extremely large andI like to cultivate it at all
times.
I make sure that I'm alwaysworking on myself and I like to
cultivate it at all times.
I make sure that I'm alwaysworking on myself and I try to
look inward more than I try tolook outward.
Whatever problems I have,they're probably more likely to
not come from within.
So if I can solve thoseproblems, the outside, the
(33:45):
external, can't hurt me.
When the internal is so strong,the external does nothing.
Aaron Pete (33:51):
So I don't know if you want me to change the name
of the title to say King ofMontreal instead of Amon.
You just let me know King ofMontreal.
I love it.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:59):
I love it.
I think that's a good one.
Somebody else said they wouldlike to hear me being announced
as the one the only I saidthat's pretty cool too.
I'm still working out onnicknames, guys.
If anybody has any ideas, throwthem in the comments.
I would love to brainstorm withthe fans too.
You know I'm still working onit.
I like King of the North, Ilike King of Montreal.
I mean, something that has todo with the cold would be cool.
(34:21):
I mean, I don't know, there'sso many ways we can go, guys.
I mean we're brainstormingright now.
Aaron Pete (34:26):
We're brainstorming.
I really like King of Montrealthough I felt like it came in
the moment Amon, King ofMontreal, Zahabi.
I feel like that works reallynicely.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:35):
I think it works really nicely.
I beat the King of Rio and Ihad told another journalist
before the fight I think it wason 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 Ididn't even ask him.
Aaron Pete (34:53):
Yeah, you called out Chido Vera and I don't know if
you heard, but his fight wasjust canceled.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:59):
What are the odds of that.
You're manifesting over here.
Yeah, it seems like that.
I had no idea his fight wouldget canceled.
I didn't care that it was inthree weeks.
Anyway, I was willing to fighthim in the fall.
Aaron Pete (35:15):
So yeah, I guess now there's even more chance for me
to fight him in the fall I lovethat fight.
I think you walked through himpersonally, but whatever.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:20):
Yeah, it's a great fight.
You know, listen, I havenothing against the guy.
I don't love him.
I think half the battle isentertaining the fans and the
other half is winning the fightAgreed.
Aaron Pete (35:33):
You also got to see I don't know if you were able to
zone into this, but Mike Malodand Jasmine Jazz-DeVitius were
able to win their fights as welland show out, and I did a
parlay and I was very successfulin that parlay because I just
believe in the Canadians and youguys all showed out.
How did it feel to watch themperform and succeed as well?
Aiemann Zahabi (35:50):
Yeah, I was really happy with them.
You know.
I've seen them around a fewtimes at different events and
stuff and I really liked themboth.
I think they both have a goodmindset and they both come from
a really strong team and theywork well with their team and
their you know their mindset andtheir ability to improve every
fight.
Like you know, every time Mikeand Jazz go out there, I feel
like they're always just thatmuch better, you know.
(36:12):
So I'm really proud of that asCanadians.
You know they're not the onlyones who are successful.
You know.
I'm really happy also withMarc-Andre Barriot, who you know
he had a two-fight losing skidand then both of them were KOs,
and now he comes to win bybreaking a guy's skull, which is
crazy.
I don't even know how the guy'sskull broke.
It's insane.
I'm really proud of him too forovercoming the skid, which is
(36:35):
hell.
I've been there before.
Team Canada are really turningthings around.
Jillian Robertson won the otherday and there were so many guys
doing so well.
I'm just proud of Team Canada.
We've got Charles Jordan comingup, it seems, and I'm happy for
him too, and I just want to be.
When it comes to theinternational level, I think we
should unite and the Canadiansshould work together.
(36:57):
That's Canada versus the world,really.
Aaron Pete (37:01):
That's what I heard George St-Pierre say to Ariel in
his interview is when he was onhis come up, that all the
groups kind of united andstarted training together and
sharpening their skills togetherand that's why they were able
to perform so strongly duringthat period and he was like I
haven't seen that in this nextgeneration yet.
Aiemann Zahabi (37:20):
I saw that clip and I took it to heart.
And then, when I saw thedoctors, after my fight, charles
Rodin came to congratulate meand 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 sawhim, 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 gettogether, man, like listen, when
it comes to international.
I told him there's a video ofit on UFC Instagram, you can see
(37:41):
it.
I was telling him like you, man, you need anything from us,
team Canada, we're on the worldstage.
We got your back.
If there's anything we can helpyou with, we'll help you.
If you want to help us, I wouldlove to have your help, but
we're there for you.
I know he just came tocongratulate me and I kind of
(38:04):
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 leavehis team.
I'm just saying would you couldjust 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 forall the Canadians.
If you're Canadian and Tristarcan help you, we'll help you.
Aaron Pete (38:22):
I love that.
I think that's the to take thatto heart, because there would
also be something so rewarding.
You guys get the postertogether, but it would be so
cool if there was a backstory toyou guys working together and
building each other up andmaking sure you're all ready.
Aiemann Zahabi (38:33):
There's just something adds to the story when
you hear about those types ofthings.
Yeah, I would love, even forMike, for Jasmine, for any of
the Canadians.
They've all trained with usbefore, but the door is always
open for any of them, anyCanadian, to come train with us.
Aaron Pete (38:52):
If this chapter of your life had a title, what
would you call it?
Aiemann Zahabi (38:56):
The Rise, the Rise man.
I think this is it.
I think beating Aldo reallymade my stock rise to the next
level.
I'm getting a lot more respect.
I feel like now no one couldtell 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 Hallof Famers who's still competing.
(39:18):
I did it with being in a lowerweight class than he was on the
night.
It's just so funny.
Now I feel like I have theright to talk about adversity.
So funny I feel like I have theright to talk about adversity.
In there.
I feel like I'm a veteran andmy place is cemented in the UFC.
I have records now.
I was just looking it up before.
It's not completely confirmed,but it seems like the only
(39:40):
Canadians who've won six in arow in the UFC is me, gsp and TJ
Grant.
That's it.
That's a short list.
The only guys to beat Aldo atfeatherweight Conor McGregor,
volkanovski, max Holloway, amonZahabi that's it.
You know what I mean.
So I've done a lot.
I've done really well formyself, and the story ain't over
(40:01):
.
It actually just got started,man.
This is just the start.
Aaron Pete (40:05):
I couldn't agree more and I just I really want to
personally thank you forstaying in touch, for being
willing to share your time.
It's been an absolute honor towatch you come up and go through
so much growth and hear aboutyour philosophy and just watch
it all come to fruition.
You deserve it, You've earnedit and you've worked so hard and
I'm so glad to see you startingto get your flowers.
(40:25):
I think there could be a fewmore, but I'm happy to see that
we're moving in that directionbecause you've absolutely earned
it.
Aiemann Zahabi (40:31):
Yeah, thank you man, I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I think the horizon isgoing to be nice.
You know George said, you know,getting this one over Aldo,
he's like nothing stopping youon the way to the title.
He's like.
You know, he was kind of theboogeyman of the division in a
sense.
You know he was so dangerous tofight and I stayed toe to toe
with him.
I didn't.
(40:51):
I didn't clinch him, I didn'tshoot on him, I didn't try to
stall him, I didn't beat him theway those other guys beat him.
I beat him in what he does best, you know.
So pretty proud of that and youdidn't fold.
Aaron Pete (41:05):
When times got tough , there were so many people curl
up and they wait for the momentto fade away.
You chose to keep pushingforward, and I think there's
just so much to learn fromindividuals like yourself.
When times do get tough, youhave to step up, you have to
push forward, you have to find away to move forward.
Think that 15 seconds then gofor the three minute kind of
mentality.
I just I love that and I'vetaken that into my own life and
(41:27):
I'm just so grateful to be ableto speak with you.
Aiemann Zahabi (41:29):
Yeah thank you, man, I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on it's anhonor thanks guys, I appreciate
it.
Man, you know like, uh, this wasa big moment for me and uh, you
know the the adversity justkept piling on you.
You know, when I first got thefight, one of the quotes I had
(41:51):
for this training camp that kindof helped me get through it was
when God wanted to make Davidking.
He didn't send him a crown, hesent him Goliath.
But my Goliath kept gettingbigger.
So at first it was Aldo, thenit was Aldo missing weight, and
then it was getting dropped.
It's just like the mountain wasgetting bigger, you know, the
person was getting bigger and inthe end we still slayed him.
So it's uh, it was a nicefeeling.
(42:14):
And one other thing was like Iuh 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 35he breaks.
I was like, okay, but but hetold me this is how the fight's
going to go.
I'm like, okay, I'm like, how'sit going to go?
He's like the fight's going tostart hard, but then it's going
(42:36):
to get harder.
And then, all of a sudden, itwill be easy, and that's exactly
what happened.
What happened?
That's exactly.
The fight was hard.
It got harder when I gotdropped and then, once I
overcame getting dropped, hefell apart.
It was easy.
The last three minutes wereeasy, which is incredible, man.
Because it's it's crazy becauseyou know conrad has like a whole
(42:58):
bunch of fights and you knowyou've seen a million fighters
and just for him to, you know tohave that team, you know,
prepare me for so many different, uh scenarios.
You know to have them in mymind.
You know that it's for so manydifferent scenarios.
You know to have them in mymind.
You know that it's so important.
And that's why, like I wastelling Ariel, like I wouldn't
be here without my team, youknow, like I fight alone, yes,
(43:20):
but I wouldn't be who I am orhave the tools I have or the
mindset I have, or the thoughtsI have, or the ability to
believe, without the guys aroundme.
You know.
So it's interesting, it'sinteresting.
It's interesting sport, man.
It's very interesting sport.
Aaron Pete (43:32):
It's a very introspective, like
philosophical sport from myperspective.
Tim is Rebecca back there?
Oh yeah, yeah, amon, just veryquickly.
Rebekah Myrol (43:44):
I just wanted to introduce you to my partner,
Rebecca.
We've been following along withall of your stuff.
Aaron Pete (43:48):
We're engaged.
Yeah, yeah, and so we've justbeen.
We watched all of yourpre-fight interviews with
everybody.
Yeah, she won't be able to hearyou.
Give her one of your ears.
Rebekah Myrol (43:59):
Yeah.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:00):
Hey Rebecca, how are you?
Rebekah Myrol (44:08):
Good.
How are you Good?
Aiemann Zahabi (44:09):
Good, good, good good.
How's being engaged to Aaronman?
Rebekah Myrol (44:12):
it's amazing uh long time coming so yeah, good,
I'm happy for you guys.
Congratulations you got to bethe man to retire, jose Aldo,
that's amazing.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:21):
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 getmarried and everything goes
super well, and I hope you guyshave plenty of babies as many as
you guys want appreciate that,amon.
Rebekah Myrol (44:35):
Again congratulations, and I look
forward to watching more of yourfights like you're.
You're a legend and don'tlisten to ariel, he's all right.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:43):
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much amazing,appreciate, appreciate it.
Aaron Pete (44:49):
Man, we'll get this all put together, is that okay?
Do you have any B-roll footageyou can kick over?
Aiemann Zahabi (44:55):
I can send you.
I have some footage in an email.
I'll just forward you thatemail.
That would be easy.
And if not, if you don't likeit, if you want to send it to me
, I can have my guy add somestuff.
But just for him to send youall the stuff it's going to be
long.
So I'll just get you what Ihave already and then it's up to
you.
Aaron Pete (45:12):
Yeah, we'll put it together and then maybe we can
send it over to you for a quicklook over.
Yeah, See if you're happy withhow it turned out and everything
.
Aiemann Zahabi (45:18):
Perfect.
Yeah, of course, yeah.
Aaron Pete (45:20):
You deserve the full treatment on this one
no-transcript.
This week's guest just shook up the world with a
win against Jose Aldo on May10th in Montreal, canada, for
UFC 315.
We explore his big win, hismindset and what the future
holds for this bantamweightcontender.
My guest today is the king ofMontreal, mr Amon Zahabi.
Amon, it's so good to have youback on.
(00:25):
Anything new been going on?
What's what's new with youthese 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 Ihad you.
I put the money on you.
I'm so happy for you.
Congratulations, good sir.
Thank you, I put the money onyou.
I'm so happy for you.
Congratulations, good sir.
Aiemann Zahabi (00:45):
Thank you, man.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the vote ofconfidence.
You know a lot of haters afterthe fight, a lot of doubters
before, but you know, the storycontinues.
I'm excited now to move on tothe next one.
Aaron Pete (00:56):
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 aretirement fight or something.
And I was like this is atremendous 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 stillpeople are like, oh, what about
(01:17):
this, what about that?
And it's like just celebratethe man for the absolute victory
and how you showed your heartin that fight.
I'm just, I couldn't be morehappy for you.
Aiemann Zahabi (01:26):
Thank you, man.
You know that's exactly how Ifeel in the end.
It's like the ones who areupset are more like either
casuals or people who I ruinedtheir parlays or their bets or
something like that.
But you know, all the truefighters are all happy that I
ended up getting my hand raised.
You know, the story just makesthe most sense.
Aaron Pete (01:47):
I couldn my hand raised.
You know the story just makesthe most sense.
I couldn't agree more.
I come to you for sage advice,wisdom.
I find you have a really goodphilosophy on things.
I put you and corey sanhagenright there with, like your
insights on the game, on how youtake fighting and apply it to
life, and it's just something Ireally admire and I'm always
excited to speak with you about.
And you talked a lot aboutworking with a mental coach, uh,
and some of the superstitionsthat you had.
(02:07):
So I'm wondering if you cantalk about choosing to work with
a mental coach, how thatdecision came about and and how
you find somebody who's maybethe right fit to work with you
about your mental game yeah,well, I hired the mindset Mike
because my friend suggested itfor me.
Aiemann Zahabi (02:23):
Like, listen, I gotta coach for everything else,
right?
So why not have a coach for themind?
Because, in the end, the finalpiece 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 whocan have me run through a system
that guarantees that I'm goingto be performing my best on the
(02:46):
night, that counts.
Why not take that advantage,right?
So that's kind of the reasoningbehind hiring him.
Because you know to be great.
It's about repeating thatgreatness over and over again.
You know, if you're great onenight, who cares?
You got to keep repeating thegreatness for people to be like,
oh wow, how does he keep beinggreat?
That's what really makes peoplelove you, right?
(03:08):
So that's kind of like thereasons why I wanted to hire one
.
And so far, like the two timeswe worked together, I had no
doubt that I was going toperform well because my mind was
so clear.
You know, I knew exactly what Ineeded to do, and especially in
this last one, where I ran intosome trouble near the end and I
used some of the techniques tomake sure that I end up on top.
Aaron Pete (03:32):
One piece that you've mentioned in previous
interviews was that you hit astreak if things started to go
the right way.
In the previous interview wedid.
We talked about how, like, youhad hit three in a row and you
were very nervous on whether ornot you could keep that going or
not, or or what that meant, oror how many people are able to
carry that into four or five,and and what that actually looks
like.
And then the other piece youhad mentioned was around having
(03:53):
your family come to these thatyou had found the streak and
then and then changing thingslike you don't know how much
that plays a role.
How?
What was the process to getover those things?
Because I think we all havethose in certain moments right
where we we think we did it oneway, so it has to be done that
way again.
How did you overcome that?
Aiemann Zahabi (04:09):
yeah, you're right, I forgot to answer the
superstition part, but uh, yeah,so there was.
Like you know, obviously allathletes have their like
superstitions.
You're not really you're notsupposed 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 anathlete, I'm part of the
athletic culture, sports culture.
(04:30):
You know we end up falling forthe trap of these superstitions
and my mindset coach reallyhelped me get out of that, in
the sense that one has nothingto do with the other.
Right, like my wife coming tothe event, how can it really
affect my fight?
You know, it doesn't doanything to affect my fight.
The only way, the only thing isbecause I, you know, I care
(04:51):
about her, I want to make sureshe has a good time and all that
stuff, yeah, but in the end shedoesn't affect the fight.
And, um, you know, doing thingsa certain way or winning in a
streak, each fight is on its ownright.
Each individual fight hasnothing 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 pastinto this fight and I don't need
(05:14):
to bring the worries of thefuture into the fight.
Right.
The more I'm present, the lessstress I'm actually gonna have,
you know.
So, like that's kind of likewhat helped me break my
superstitions, and not havingany superstitions makes you a
lot more go with the flow.
So that's another way to.
I'm even less stressed nowBecause I don't need things to
(05:34):
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 arisethat bothers you too much.
Because you're willing to adapt.
You know that you're going tobe able to.
I have the capability to adapt,so I'm confident in myself.
Aaron Pete (05:53):
We've got to get a shirt that says something like
present over perfection, orsomething like that.
Aiemann Zahabi (05:58):
Yeah, exactly Because you know adversity is
going to find you, no matterwhat you do.
It'll come in an unsuspectedway, and it's just good to have
a plan to deal with it insteadof hoping it never comes and
there's something about thatyou're.
Aaron Pete (06:14):
You're almost fighting yourself in those ways
and having to like, let go ofthose instincts that it has
something to do with somethingelse, right, because so often we
feel like the outcome matterson whether or not you did this
or that, and and if it doesn't,then your mental game's all
messed up, right, and thatleaves you vulnerable to like,
oh, I didn't eat my breakfast atthis exact time and so now I'm
(06:35):
not going to be as successful.
Well, now you're going inthinking 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 (06:49):
I don't want to be tied to anything, I want to
be independent of everything, sothat way I can just move as I
need to move given thecircumstances.
Aaron Pete (07:00):
The one thing that really blew me away, and even
just the response.
I watched your interview withAriel Hawani.
It just feels like everybody'sglossing over the fact that this
guy missed weight by a very,very significant amount the day
before the fight Not aninsignificant amount of time
before the fight.
In other circumstances I feellike people would be outraged
(07:22):
and I have a great deal ofadmiration and respect for Jose
Aldo, but it just seems likethis is just like.
No, we're just going to focuson how you respond and you
should be figuring like what isgoing on.
This is just to surprise me.
Usually people are off by apound and people react, and this
is like more than eight poundsthat this fight got changed and
(07:42):
the reaction has been very timidin reaction to other fighters.
It's much larger.
Aiemann Zahabi (07:48):
Yeah, I'm surprised that no one is being
harsh on Aldo.
My brother told me not to beharsh because he's never missed
weight before right, so I willnot attack him for it.
But I find it weird like you'resaying that they're attacking
me in the sense that you've gotto just deal with it, man.
But no, I don't really have todeal with it.
(08:10):
Actually, technically, thefight's off.
You know, I'm doing ufc favor.
I'm doing, you know, the fansof favor.
I'm doing montreal favor.
I'm taking the opportunity.
I'm risking everything, man.
You know like I'm riskingeverything and like aldo can
damage me in there and foreverybody, even before the fight
, people tell me not to hurt himbecause they love him so much.
It's like, you see, soccerkicked me in the head.
He's trying to literally kickmy head off my shoulders, you
know.
So I just feel like, um, he'ssuch a global superstar that, uh
(08:34):
, people love him that much.
You know, people just love himso much and he's blessed to have
that and, uh, hopefully one daypeople will love me that much.
You know, if, hopefully, that'slike that's what I want, but
yeah, it is a really big deal inboxing it would never happen.
Aaron Pete (08:49):
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 youcame to these two pieces?
You've outlined two things onmultiple interviews, one that,
uh, what's his name?
Uh, the the boxer, chris Eubankwas on 0.05, like 0.05 pounds,
(09:12):
and had to pay a half a milliondollars.
That was one example.
And then the other piece wasthat, soldiers, when you cut
that amount of weight, you loseon the performance piece, and
I've never heard a fighterrespond so thoughtfully to like
being questioned on the.
Where did you get thatinformation and and just what
was the reaction that you foundto to those important statistics
(09:33):
?
Aiemann Zahabi (09:34):
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 fightbecause 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 ofmoney, man.
That is a lot of money for 0.5.
(09:58):
No, sorry, 0.05.
Oh, whatever, yeah, you knowwhat I mean.
That's like minuscule,miniscule, exactly so if you
think about it, it's, it's crazy.
I thought, with like over sixpounds difference, right, and
then the the study is because mybrother's always doing research
on like what's the bestpractices for to, to, to make
sure that we we get throughtraining camp without getting
(10:20):
hurt and to optimize ourconditioning.
So my brother always tells usto make sure that we show up to
practice hydrated, because every2% of dehydration we come to
practice we're going to have areduction of performance by 6%,
and if you do that every day,you're not going to be preparing
at your best to have your bestnight on fight night.
So, like my brother had donethe research, just so that we
(10:40):
can improve for the team, youknow.
So we can all come always wellprepared for practice, so we
don't get hurt or we don'tunderperform in the gym, so that
we can perform properly.
So it's stuff we already know.
So, like an eight-pounddifference, it's huge because
I'm a lot of percentage down inwater than he is.
So my performance percentage isgoing to be way worse than his.
(11:05):
You know I'm not going to beperforming as good as he is and
like I was telling the otherjournalists that in my opinion
and I'm not saying this as aninsult to him, but that although
at 45 is more robust thanalthough at 35, and I think the
reason why he can withstand moredamage at 45 and has better
(11:25):
cardio and strength and all thatstuff at 45, it's because he
didn't have to lose nine poundsmore of water.
When he comes to 35, he losesanother nine pounds of water.
It affects his performance.
That's what the whole studyexplains, right.
So that's why he's not asperformative in the 35 weight
class.
So when I took the fight, youknow, I thought it would be more
(11:46):
likely to break him.
Yeah, at 35.
So I was like, yeah, well, I'llfight Aldo.
You know he's breakable at 35.
At 45, you know he's a beast.
He's still a beast at 35, butnot as much of a beast.
You know, and I'm not trying toinsult him by saying that but
everybody who cuts eight poundsmore is more susceptible to
breaking than somebody who cutseight pounds less.
(12:08):
If you take the same guy andyou cut eight pounds less, he's
more robust.
That and you cut eight poundsless, he's more robust.
That's just science for me.
I wouldn't think of that as aninsult.
Basically is what?
Aaron Pete (12:18):
I'm trying to say Absolutely.
And then I don't know if peoplerealize that when you're
cutting to that extent, yourbody does start to try and
conserve energy.
And from what I've heard fromother fighters is that when you
try and start to gain thatweight back, if you do that too
quickly, then you start yourbody starts to respond
negatively because it can't takein that much nutrients that
(12:39):
quickly and you had to start togain a ton of weight really
quickly.
Can you walk us through thatprocess and and how you do
something like that thoughtfullyand so you can't just start
eating Big Macs.
You've got to be very mindfulof how you gain that weight back
, because it can have a negativeimpact on you yeah, so like, uh
.
Aiemann Zahabi (12:55):
So basically what happened was is that
special rule in montreal?
Or if there's a five pounddifference, five pounds or more,
excuse me, uh, the fight's off.
There's no, there's no wayyou're putting a fight together.
So I had to start drinkingwater during the negotiations.
They wouldn't let me weigh inat 136.8, so I started
rehydrating and, like I don'tknow if I've told you, but like
(13:17):
on my 5-5 win streak, every oneof 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, youknow what?
We started even slower becausewe got even more time.
So we got that extra hour.
So I started with eating like abagel and drinking some water
and I got I just made that fivepound, added the five pounds
(13:38):
that we needed so that the fightcould be okay.
So then we went downstairs andFrost wanted to negotiate with
Sean Shelby and we ended upmaking a deal.
So it was nice.
Aaron Pete (13:50):
Interesting.
I'm wondering how does it?
How did you feel in that momentwhere you were trying to
resolve that?
Aiemann Zahabi (13:56):
Oh it was brutal , I was so mad.
Aaron Pete (14:00):
I can't imagine.
And you just think, when peoplego in for a job interview or
something and you want it to allwork out, you couldn't have
imagined that thesecircumstances would come up.
But you're trying to put on.
For so many people, All of thehope and expectation is on you
and like, as much as I'm sureyou were willing to take that on
, there's also just a piecewhere it's like, hey, you did
(14:22):
your job, you were doing yourjob.
And like, yeah, it may havebeen 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 asignificant amount and he could
have alerted people far earlier, I'm guessing, than he did.
And so, like it's all on youand 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
(14:44):
fact that you were kicked in thehead.
You put your body at risk yourfamily sitting in the crowd
watching you try and perform andthe odds are stacked against
you.
Out watching you try andperform and the odds are stacked
against you, like this was notan insignificant decision to
make it.
How did you process all of theemotions that must have come
from that?
Aiemann Zahabi (14:59):
yeah, well, you know well, now that you fasted
for so long, you know what it isto be dehydrated a little bit.
You get irritated, like whenyou lose all that water and
you've dieted so hard, and likethat.
You know, from starting on tthey try to eliminate carbs from
my diet.
I'm only eating protein.
So like when I'm down at 136.8and I get the news, I am furious
(15:19):
because I can't control myemotions 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 notto get emotional at all during
fight week.
I try to be numb to everythingas much as possible.
The more I'm detachedemotionally, the better I will
perform.
So that's normally how I takeit.
But when I was starting to behydrating, I started getting a
(15:43):
much clearer head and Frost waskeeping me calm and he's like
okay, let's just talk aboutwhat's the biggest risk of the
whole thing, of that much of aweight difference.
And for me and what I told myteam and the guys around me is
that look, my main concern isbecause I'm more dehydrated than
him.
Will I be able to withstand thesame amount of damage he can
(16:05):
withstand or is he going to beable to take punches and kicks
and knees better than I can?
Because he didn't cut so low?
Because you know, when youdehydrate 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, Idon't know what gets rehydrated
(16:26):
first and to what extent, andlike how much, of how much am I
really at 100%?
You know, science doesn't knowthat.
They don't know man, they wantyou to hit these numbers because
that means you're hydrated,because you weigh this much.
But you know, is my brain goingto withstand the same amount of
impact as him, or am I comingin there a little bit more
fragile than him?
That's why I was telling youabout the you know, aldo.
(16:48):
At 45, he's more durable than heis at 35.
Because you know he cut 8pounds more to make 35.
He's not going to be as durable.
So I felt like what's going tohappen is because we have to
change the weight class to 45,you're getting an Eamon Zahabi
bantam and you're getting a JoseAldo featherweight.
So I'm fighting him atfeatherweight but I'm a
(17:10):
bantamweight and he's afeatherweight.
So I'm fighting him atfeatherweight, but I'm a
bantamweight and he's afeatherweight, so that was kind
of like the biggest concern, youknow.
So that's why we ended upchanging the game plan to a much
more conservative round onethan I expected.
Normally the game plan was toput it on him, but we changed
the game plan just to make surethat when he hits me I don't get
(17:31):
flatlined right away, so justto feel it out for longer than
expected, just to make sure thatI don't get anything too
surprising you got hit, uh andkicked multiple times in the
face, which I just cannotimagine.
Aaron Pete (17:45):
Yeah, and I'm wondering.
You talked a little bit abouthow, like, you got to show your
heart in this fight and I'mwondering what did you learn
about yourself in this war?
Yeah, well, you know, like Iknew, I was going to show my
heart in this fight and I'mwondering what did you learn
about yourself in this war?
Aiemann Zahabi (17:55):
yeah, well, you know, like I knew I was going to
show my heart, no matter whatin this fight, and if it went,
if it went really well, you knowI was expecting to, you know,
to like punish him, you know,like get on top and ground and
pound or whatever it was, or kohim.
And people are going to knowthat I'm resilient because the
game plan will start strong,strong and fight to the end.
But you know, it was nice toshow my heart because, you know,
(18:17):
getting dropped in a weird wayand getting soccer kicked and
going through that whole ordeal,I'm actually grateful for it,
man.
I'm actually super gratefulthat it happened.
And I'll tell you the firstreason I'm grateful is because
when I came out of the hellfire,I stayed calm, cool and
collected, and when he came intothe Hellfire, he fell apart,
(18:39):
man, and he broke Physically andmentally.
He fell apart and I did not, man, you know he was the one with
41 fights, he was the eight-timeworld champion, but when it
came down to it, I was a muchbetter nail than he was.
He's only a good hammer, youknow.
So, like I feel like now I'mgetting a lot of respect from
(19:03):
fighters, coaches, like peoplein the know, people who watch
the fight for real, not casualswho just you know, taking a look
here and there at the screen,but people who watch that fight,
who paid attention, who knowwhat fighting is.
Everyone gives me my respectnow, you know.
So, like I feel really good, Ifeel blessed that it happened
the way it did.
I want to thank God for keepingme awake and making sure I
(19:25):
didn't get KO'd in that moment.
And, you know, I'm proud ofmyself for keeping a clear head,
regathering myself, makingspace, catching my breath and
putting it on him and winningthe last three minutes.
Aaron Pete (19:37):
Can you just walk us through really quickly that
piece, because you've said it afew times and I apologize for
asking you to repeat it, but howyou go about you got knocked
down and you talked about how Ithink it was your mental coach
who said first you have to likegather yourself, then the first
15 seconds.
Can you walk us through that,because I love that.
Aiemann Zahabi (19:55):
Yeah.
So my mindset coach, you knowwe always talk about like also
worst case scenario.
Uh, one thing I've come to theconclusion is is that if you
only think that only positivethings can happen for you,
you're delusional.
Like adversity is coming, andit comes when you don't want it
to come and, uh, you need a plan, right?
So you always ask me what'syour plan?
You know he didn't give me theplan.
(20:17):
He tells me what's your plan,like how would you deal with
something that happens?
You know, and I always tell himlike, for me it's about making
space, catching my breath andwinning the next exchange and
then winning the next 15 secondsand then winning the 15 seconds
after that, and just like microgains, until I turn the tide
back in my favor.
(20:37):
You know, that's basically how Isee it, so like things are
going to happen in the fightsthat I don't want them to happen
, because there are so manyballs to juggle and there are so
many banana peels out therethat, even though you're
juggling all these balls,there's something that's going
to happen.
You don't, though you'rejuggling all these balls or
something's gonna happen.
You don't see, you're gonnaslip and all of a sudden they're
gonna go flying and you'regonna catch them all and put
(20:58):
them all back in order, and Ifelt like I was able to do that
against aldo and he was not ableto turn things around for
himself when I got going oh, itwas two times from my
perspective that he lost one onthe scale and then one in the
fight, right like yeah therewere like just even you.
Aaron Pete (21:12):
You pointed out that he would have better cardio and
I don't know what was going onin that third round, but I
didn't see any cardio comingfrom him on that side that he
was laying down and you had himin and you were in a very
dominant position.
And if we were in pride rules?
that would have looked very,very different, you know.
So the other piece that I justwanted to like reflect on from
my perspective, that you showedsome of it was circumstance, but
(21:35):
there was a Canadian spiritthere that I just saw from you.
How you approached him, notmeeting the weight like how you
approached these challenges whenthe fight was put on, like you
were incredibly respectful ummore so than than I was to
people within my friend groupwhere I was like I do not like
this.
So you were kind and thoughtfuland respectful towards him
(21:58):
throughout the process.
You wanted to put on for Canada, you wanted to show out.
You faced adversity and youovercame.
And I don't know if you've seenthis on X and on other social
media platforms, but it seemslike there's a big question
right now, like what does itmean to be a Canadian?
And the way you showed up, theway you approached conversations
, just that that gave me thatspirit of like that's what it
(22:20):
means to be a canadian notrunning his name through social
media, not complaining, notpulling out of the fight, like
taking all of the challengesthat you faced, absorbing it and
then still showing out andbeing respectful and kind to
everybody involved yeah, thanks,I appreciate that.
Aiemann Zahabi (22:34):
You know, and, uh, you know, I'm blessed to
have a strong team and havereally good mentors, like for us
incredible mentor, and so isgeorge, and my mindset coach is
incredible, you know, and eveneven my manager has a good
mindset.
You know my friends, my friendjordan is, you know, he's with
me all the time and we have agood mindset.
Everyone has a good mindset.
And when we were doing thenegotiations with Sean Shelby,
(22:59):
frost took charge of thenegotiations and he gave us a
number and Frost was talking theterms and Frost told me he's
like look, he's like, if youaccept the terms, that's it.
We're fighting Aldo.
You know what I mean.
There's no excuse about theweight.
There's no shitting on aldo.
There's no talking bad abouthim.
(23:19):
He's never missed weight before.
We have to give him his respect.
He's a legend.
We don't know why he missedweight.
So, uh, if you decide to do it,you're allowed to speak.
The facts say that there's aweight difference.
Explain your side, explain thegravity of the adversity that
we're facing, but he's likewe're not gonna throw aldo under
(23:40):
the bus.
You know, you're facing the.
You're facing this adversity.
Yes, we explain for what it is.
But keep all those, keep, don't,don't muddy all those name.
You know, because we didn'tknow you know he's.
You know we really don't knowwhy he missed, you know.
So it's hard to uh, you know uhtalk bad about a legend like
that.
You know he, he paved the wayfor me to make a payday, like I
(24:03):
just did, you know.
And uh, in the end, because hemissed the weight, I made more
money, way more money than I wassupposed to make.
So like I benefited from it inthe 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 hisname now.
(24:25):
But you know Frost has a goodhead on his shoulders and he
told me not to do it before thefight happened or after, no
matter what the outcome was.
Aaron Pete (24:39):
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 wasready to just ready, just to do
what I did.
Now I know a lot of peopledon't have someone to lean on
when they have those types ofchallenges, like when they have
challenges come up and they needsome sage advice.
Again, as you were describing,you're dehydrated.
This is unexpected news you'rehaving to take in.
How does it feel to be able tohave somebody to lean on in
(25:09):
those circumstances to give youreally good, thoughtful advice
and kind of support you throughthat process and give you
insights that maybe are tough tohear at first.
Right, like immediately whenyou hear that Aldo didn't make
weight and you're dealing withall 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 thatwould be my initial reaction.
How does it feel to havesomebody support that and then
you be able to take that in assage advice?
Aiemann Zahabi (25:35):
Yeah, like, you're right, it uh, it's, it's
amazing.
You know, it's really importantto have, like I talk to guys
all the time about, like, if youreally want to make it, you
need to surround yourself with agood team.
You know, and uh, the thepeople you choose to keep around
are really gonna shape yourfuture, because you're gonna be
influenced by the way they thinkright.
So, like, my brother told meall that, but I could have told
him you know what?
Yeah, okay, whatever, and Istill talk trash about Aldo I
(25:57):
have to also accept what theysay and also, you know, like I
have to respect what they say.
I can hear it, but it doesn'tnecessarily mean I'm going to
take their advice.
I have a million fighters on myteam 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.
And even when I called GSP afterand I told him I accepted the
terms and we told him whathappened the first thing that he
said was this is the best thingthat ever happened to you.
(26:20):
He's like, the story is goingto be amazing when you beat Aldo
and you beat him when he wasoverweight, and you do this and
you do that, he's likeeveryone'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'sgo.
So I was happy.
You know, it's nice, like it'snice, to have people who believe
in me that much and also peoplewho guide me to do things in a
(26:43):
way that you know, in the endthey were right and I feel happy
to be this guy now.
Aaron Pete (26:52):
I couldn't agree more.
It has been amazing to watchpeople's response to you and
excitement and the respect beingput on your name because you
deserved it the whole time.
But some people are just wakingup to it.
You mentioned GSP and youmentioned this and I feel like
this should be a headline frommy perspective.
He believes you could be thenext champ of the bantamweight
division.
This is very exciting to me.
(27:14):
I'm very happy to hear that hegave that feedback.
What did that mean to you andwas that just reaffirming?
Aiemann Zahabi (27:21):
Yeah, it means the world to me.
You know he's been telling methat for a long time and you
know I always have Frost andNeil 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 haveGeorge in, because you know,
aldo is such a megastar andpeople are going to love him so
much.
(27:41):
I thought, you know what, letme have George's aura around me
as well, and when George speaksto me, I try to listen as much
as possible, and he's not thekind of guy to sugarcoat
anything or to pump your tiresfor no reason, right?
So when he tells me something,I believe him.
And uh, it was.
We had a really cool momentactually, uh, backstage where,
(28:03):
uh, like I had done my warm-up,everything was done and I was
waiting to walk out, but thenthey did the v-tour special.
So when they did like thev-tour, like hall of fame
announcement and video montage,they told us, okay, look, you
were supposed to walk out, butwe're gonna give you, we're
gonna have to wait another 10minutes.
So it was like 10 minutes ofdead time.
So I was just pacing back andforth and, uh, just be standing
there.
And they were showing like, uh,you know the vtor footage and
(28:27):
whatever.
And I was just going through myhead like what's gonna happen
and I just smile and just bestanding there and I just start
pounding on his chest and I'mlike George Aldo's coming out
hard, boom, boom.
But we're gonna be ready, boom,boom.
And I'm like I'm not worriedabout him, boom, boom.
I was just banging on his chest, I was talking to him and
banging on his chest and he waslike he was feeling that
excitement and I can't, I can'twait for this moment, you know.
(28:49):
And then I'm placing back somemore and then they put a
highlight reel of the next UFCand it's going to be Murat
versus Sean O'Malley and Georgepoints at me.
He's like you know, it doesn'tstop 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 meup and I couldn't wait for the
(29:12):
fight and I had never been inthe blue corner before.
It's the first time I've everbeen in the blue corner.
I've never been in the octagonor in a fight.
First Always come second.
I've always been in the redcorner.
It just worked out that, but itdid.
And this is the first time I'mstanding there in the arena and
I was looking around, I wastaking it all in and they were
still playing my music and I waslike you know what, man, this
(29:34):
is nowhere else I'd rather be.
So I turn around and I seeFrost.
I walk up to him and I grab himby the hand and I tell him
there's no, I love this shit, Ijust go, I love this.
I went up to Neil, I grabbedhis hand.
I said I love it.
Then I walked over to BruceBuffer.
I shook his hand.
I told him I love it.
He's like, brother, you've gotit.
(29:55):
That's what Bruce Buffer toldme.
And I felt like, yeah, and Igrabbed the referee's hand for
Alvo to step into this octagon,just so we could get started.
Man, I couldn't wait for it tohappen.
And then it was good, you know,I didn't get iced out.
Actually, I used the moment tozone in even further.
Aaron Pete (30:16):
I love that and it somewhat reminds me I don't know
if you've seen Dan Hookersitting in the chair and he's
just in a tough first round, Ithink, and then he goes boys.
I love this shit.
And first round, I think, andthen he goes boys.
I love this shit and like he'sall bloodied up, his face is
just destroyed and he's likesoaking in that moment and it
just uh, ariel talks about thisa lot, but it just shows the
(30:39):
difference between you andeverybody else in the world,
right, because, like in thatmoment I'd be scared, I'd be
nervous, like I would feel likeI couldn't do what you do, like
I don't have that bone in mybody.
That goes like when all thelights are on, when all the
pressure's on you, when, whenthe moment's building up, I
imagine I'd bet a lot of moneythat I'd fold like a, like a ton
of bricks and and people likeyourself soak that in and use
that as energy and then aregoing into the fight even more
(31:02):
zoned in than you were before.
And I think that's reallyadmirable, particularly again
because your family's sittingright there.
Like there's always thosenerves, like, as you were
describing, take the first roundslow.
You don't know how he's goingto respond.
Like in those moments I just Idon't know how you do it and I
just I find that all soadmirable pressure is a
privilege to have it all on myback.
Aiemann Zahabi (31:25):
It's nobody else I'd rather count on.
You know what I mean.
I'd rather be the one takingthe shot.
I want to be the one in thegame.
I want to be the one making thedecisions.
I want to be the one scoringthe goals.
I want to be the one putting myhands on them.
You know what I mean.
I want that pressure.
I want everything.
The fact that I was in MontrealI loved it.
The fact that my family, myfriends, everyone gets to know
(31:45):
me.
It was a crazy, surreal feeling.
People were asking me how goodit felt before.
Before I didn't feel that good.
Honestly, it felt like nothing.
It felt like nothing you knowwhy?
Because I've got to go outthere and I've got to do it.
I've got to go out there andI've got to win it.
I've got to make it the bestnight of my life, or else it can
also be the one in control.
(32:06):
I'd rather be the one going outthere and doing it.
You know I don't want anybodyelse doing it for me, and I feel
like one day, when I retire, Ican 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.
(32:29):
So, like it's my hard work,it's my discipline, my
determination, my love for whatI do, and you know I'm happy
with the way everything turnedout.
Aaron Pete (32:32):
I feel like I couldn't have written a better
story.
Aiemann Zahabi (32:34):
I couldn't agree more.
I couldn't have written abetter way.
Aaron Pete (32:36):
And that's where, for me, like the thing that you
helped me learn about why I lovefighting so much, is because
you have this philosophy thatwe've talked about in other
interviews how you think aboutadversity, how you think about
your approach, how you processthe challenges and adversity,
and how you prepare and how youplan and and how you approach
all of those things build like apyramid so that there is this
(32:59):
moment where the lights are onyou, but you've done so much
underneath that build you upwhere you don't have to worry
because the foundation is rocksolid.
And that's what, to me, youhave is this rock solid
foundation.
So when adversity comes up,when things are unexpected,
you're still able to navigatethem, but because you've built
that solid foundation in whichto operate.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:22):
Yeah, I totally agree, man.
My base is extremely large andI like to cultivate it at all
times.
I make sure that I'm alwaysworking on myself and I like to
cultivate it at all times.
I make sure that I'm alwaysworking on myself and I try to
look inward more than I try tolook outward.
Whatever problems I have,they're probably more likely to
not come from within.
So if I can solve thoseproblems, the outside, the
(33:45):
external, can't hurt me.
When the internal is so strong,the external does nothing.
Aaron Pete (33:51):
So I don't know if you want me to change the name
of the title to say King ofMontreal instead of Amon.
You just let me know King ofMontreal.
I love it.
Aiemann Zahabi (33:59):
I love it.
I think that's a good one.
Somebody else said they wouldlike to hear me being announced
as the one the only I saidthat's pretty cool too.
I'm still working out onnicknames, guys.
If anybody has any ideas, throwthem in the comments.
I would love to brainstorm withthe fans too.
You know I'm still working onit.
I like King of the North, Ilike King of Montreal.
I mean, something that has todo with the cold would be cool.
(34:21):
I mean, I don't know, there'sso many ways we can go, guys.
I mean we're brainstormingright now.
Aaron Pete (34:26):
We're brainstorming.
I really like King of Montrealthough I felt like it came in
the moment Amon, King ofMontreal, Zahabi.
I feel like that works reallynicely.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:35):
I think it works really nicely.
I beat the King of Rio and Ihad told another journalist
before the fight I think it wason 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 Ididn't even ask him.
Aaron Pete (34:53):
Yeah, you called out Chido Vera and I don't know if
you heard, but his fight wasjust canceled.
Aiemann Zahabi (34:59):
What are the odds of that.
You're manifesting over here.
Yeah, it seems like that.
I had no idea his fight wouldget canceled.
I didn't care that it was inthree weeks.
Anyway, I was willing to fighthim in the fall.
Aaron Pete (35:15):
So yeah, I guess now there's even more chance for me
to fight him in the fall I lovethat fight.
I think you walked through himpersonally, but whatever.
Aiemann Zahabi (35:20):
Yeah, it's a great fight.
You know, listen, I havenothing against the guy.
I don't love him.
I think half the battle isentertaining the fans and the
other half is winning the fightAgreed.
Aaron Pete (35:33):
You also got to see I don't know if you were able to
zone into this, but Mike Malodand Jasmine Jazz-DeVitius were
able to win their fights as welland show out, and I did a
parlay and I was very successfulin that parlay because I just
believe in the Canadians and youguys all showed out.
How did it feel to watch themperform and succeed as well?
Aiemann Zahabi (35:50):
Yeah, I was really happy with them.
You know.
I've seen them around a fewtimes at different events and
stuff and I really liked themboth.
I think they both have a goodmindset and they both come from
a really strong team and theywork well with their team and
their you know their mindset andtheir ability to improve every
fight.
Like you know, every time Mikeand Jazz go out there, I feel
like they're always just thatmuch better, you know.
(36:12):
So I'm really proud of that asCanadians.
You know they're not the onlyones who are successful.
You know.
I'm really happy also withMarc-Andre Barriot, who you know
he had a two-fight losing skidand then both of them were KOs,
and now he comes to win bybreaking a guy's skull, which is
crazy.
I don't even know how the guy'sskull broke.
It's insane.
I'm really proud of him too forovercoming the skid, which is
(36:35):
hell.
I've been there before.
Team Canada are really turningthings around.
Jillian Robertson won the otherday and there were so many guys
doing so well.
I'm just proud of Team Canada.
We've got Charles Jordan comingup, it seems, and I'm happy for
him too, and I just want to be.
When it comes to theinternational level, I think we
should unite and the Canadiansshould work together.
(36:57):
That's Canada versus the world,really.
Aaron Pete (37:01):
That's what I heard George St-Pierre say to Ariel in
his interview is when he was onhis come up, that all the
groups kind of united andstarted training together and
sharpening their skills togetherand that's why they were able
to perform so strongly duringthat period and he was like I
haven't seen that in this nextgeneration yet.
Aiemann Zahabi (37:20):
I saw that clip and I took it to heart.
And then, when I saw thedoctors, after my fight, charles
Rodin came to congratulate meand 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 sawhim, 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 gettogether, man, like listen, when
it comes to international.
I told him there's a video ofit on UFC Instagram, you can see
(37:41):
it.
I was telling him like you, man, you need anything from us,
team Canada, we're on the worldstage.
We got your back.
If there's anything we can helpyou with, we'll help you.
If you want to help us, I wouldlove to have your help, but
we're there for you.
I know he just came tocongratulate me and I kind of
(38:04):
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 leavehis team.
I'm just saying would you couldjust 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 forall the Canadians.
If you're Canadian and Tristarcan help you, we'll help you.
Aaron Pete (38:22):
I love that.
I think that's the to take thatto heart, because there would
also be something so rewarding.
You guys get the postertogether, but it would be so
cool if there was a backstory toyou guys working together and
building each other up andmaking sure you're all ready.
Aiemann Zahabi (38:33):
There's just something adds to the story when
you hear about those types ofthings.
Yeah, I would love, even forMike, for Jasmine, for any of
the Canadians.
They've all trained with usbefore, but the door is always
open for any of them, anyCanadian, to come train with us.
Aaron Pete (38:52):
If this chapter of your life had a title, what
would you call it?
Aiemann Zahabi (38:56):
The Rise, the Rise man.
I think this is it.
I think beating Aldo reallymade my stock rise to the next
level.
I'm getting a lot more respect.
I feel like now no one couldtell 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 Hallof Famers who's still competing.
(39:18):
I did it with being in a lowerweight class than he was on the
night.
It's just so funny.
Now I feel like I have theright to talk about adversity.
So funny I feel like I have theright to talk about adversity.
In there.
I feel like I'm a veteran andmy place is cemented in the UFC.
I have records now.
I was just looking it up before.
It's not completely confirmed,but it seems like the only
(39:40):
Canadians who've won six in arow in the UFC is me, gsp and TJ
Grant.
That's it.
That's a short list.
The only guys to beat Aldo atfeatherweight Conor McGregor,
volkanovski, max Holloway, amonZahabi that's it.
You know what I mean.
So I've done a lot.
I've done really well formyself, and the story ain't over
(40:01):
.
It actually just got started,man.
This is just the start.
Aaron Pete (40:05):
I couldn't agree more and I just I really want to
personally thank you forstaying in touch, for being
willing to share your time.
It's been an absolute honor towatch you come up and go through
so much growth and hear aboutyour philosophy and just watch
it all come to fruition.
You deserve it, You've earnedit and you've worked so hard and
I'm so glad to see you startingto get your flowers.
(40:25):
I think there could be a fewmore, but I'm happy to see that
we're moving in that directionbecause you've absolutely earned
it.
Aiemann Zahabi (40:31):
Yeah, thank you man, I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I think the horizon isgoing to be nice.
You know George said, you know,getting this one over Aldo,
he's like nothing stopping youon the way to the title.
He's like.
You know, he was kind of theboogeyman of the division in a
sense.
You know he was so dangerous tofight and I stayed toe to toe
with him.
I didn't.
(40:51):
I didn't clinch him, I didn'tshoot on him, I didn't try to
stall him, I didn't beat him theway those other guys beat him.
I beat him in what he does best, you know.
So pretty proud of that and youdidn't fold.
Aaron Pete (41:05):
When times got tough , there were so many people curl
up and they wait for the momentto fade away.
You chose to keep pushingforward, and I think there's
just so much to learn fromindividuals like yourself.
When times do get tough, youhave to step up, you have to
push forward, you have to find away to move forward.
Think that 15 seconds then gofor the three minute kind of
mentality.
I just I love that and I'vetaken that into my own life and
(41:27):
I'm just so grateful to be ableto speak with you.
Aiemann Zahabi (41:29):
Yeah thank you, man, I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on it's anhonor thanks guys, I appreciate
it.
Man, you know like, uh, this wasa big moment for me and uh, you
know the the adversity justkept piling on you.
You know, when I first got thefight, one of the quotes I had
(41:51):
for this training camp that kindof helped me get through it was
when God wanted to make Davidking.
He didn't send him a crown, hesent him Goliath.
But my Goliath kept gettingbigger.
So at first it was Aldo, thenit was Aldo missing weight, and
then it was getting dropped.
It's just like the mountain wasgetting bigger, you know, the
person was getting bigger and inthe end we still slayed him.
So it's uh, it was a nicefeeling.
(42:14):
And one other thing was like Iuh 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 35he breaks.
I was like, okay, but but hetold me this is how the fight's
going to go.
I'm like, okay, I'm like, how'sit going to go?
He's like the fight's going tostart hard, but then it's going
(42:36):
to get harder.
And then, all of a sudden, itwill be easy, and that's exactly
what happened.
What happened?
That's exactly.
The fight was hard.
It got harder when I gotdropped and then, once I
overcame getting dropped, hefell apart.
It was easy.
The last three minutes wereeasy, which is incredible, man.
Because it's it's crazy becauseyou know conrad has like a whole
(42:58):
bunch of fights and you knowyou've seen a million fighters
and just for him to, you know tohave that team, you know,
prepare me for so many different, uh scenarios.
You know to have them in mymind.
You know that it's for so manydifferent scenarios.
You know to have them in mymind.
You know that it's so important.
And that's why, like I wastelling Ariel, like I wouldn't
be here without my team, youknow, like I fight alone, yes,
(43:20):
but I wouldn't be who I am orhave the tools I have or the
mindset I have, or the thoughtsI have, or the ability to
believe, without the guys aroundme.
You know.
So it's interesting, it'sinteresting.
It's interesting sport, man.
It's very interesting sport.
Aaron Pete (43:32):
It's a very introspective, like
philosophical sport from myperspective.
Tim is Rebecca back there?
Oh yeah, yeah, amon, just veryquickly.
Rebekah Myrol (43:44):
I just wanted to introduce you to my partner,
Rebecca.
We've been following along withall of your stuff.
Aaron Pete (43:48):
We're engaged.
Yeah, yeah, and so we've justbeen.
We watched all of yourpre-fight interviews with
everybody.
Yeah, she won't be able to hearyou.
Give her one of your ears.
Rebekah Myrol (43:59):
Yeah.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:00):
Hey Rebecca, how are you?
Rebekah Myrol (44:08):
Good.
How are you Good?
Aiemann Zahabi (44:09):
Good, good, good good.
How's being engaged to Aaronman?
Rebekah Myrol (44:12):
it's amazing uh long time coming so yeah, good,
I'm happy for you guys.
Congratulations you got to bethe man to retire, jose Aldo,
that's amazing.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:21):
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 getmarried and everything goes
super well, and I hope you guyshave plenty of babies as many as
you guys want appreciate that,amon.
Rebekah Myrol (44:35):
Again congratulations, and I look
forward to watching more of yourfights like you're.
You're a legend and don'tlisten to ariel, he's all right.
Aiemann Zahabi (44:43):
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much amazing,appreciate, appreciate it.
Aaron Pete (44:49):
Man, we'll get this all put together, is that okay?
Do you have any B-roll footageyou can kick over?
Aiemann Zahabi (44:55):
I can send you.
I have some footage in an email.
I'll just forward you thatemail.
That would be easy.
And if not, if you don't likeit, if you want to send it to me
, I can have my guy add somestuff.
But just for him to send youall the stuff it's going to be
long.
So I'll just get you what Ihave already and then it's up to
you.
Aaron Pete (45:12):
Yeah, we'll put it together and then maybe we can
send it over to you for a quicklook over.
Yeah, See if you're happy withhow it turned out and everything
.
Aiemann Zahabi (45:18):
Perfect.
Yeah, of course, yeah.
Aaron Pete (45:20):
You deserve the full treatment on this one
no-transcript.
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