This past Saturday on the main card of UFC Vancouver, we saw a fun matchup in the bantamweight division. Former title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera (23-11-1) was looking to get back on track as he took on Aiemann Zahabi (14-2).
Zahabi entered the bout having won six fights in a row, that said, I wasn’t really impressed by him coming into this one. I thought this was a showcase opportunity for Chito Vera to get back on track and defeat a guy with a nice win streak.
Vera started strong in this one by dropping Zahabi in the first round, but things that have plagued Vera in the past plagued him again on Saturday night. Vera never got overly aggressive even when Zahabi was clearly hurt.
Zahabi came back strong in the second and third rounds and showed incredible toughness. Zahabi threw more and landed more than a very cautious Vera in the final two rounds. I think that Vera could’ve won this fight, but Zahabi just went out there in the final two rounds and took the fight from him. In the end, the judges were split but I think two got it right and Aiemann Zahabi won his seventh straight at UFC Vancouver.
What’s next after UFC Vancouver?
While he’s certainly not the flashiest or most impressive fighter in the world, Aiemann Zahabi is going to be a top seven ranked UFC bantamweight when the rankings come out this week. After the fight was over on Saturday night, he called out former champion Sean O’Malley. I respect the callout, but I don’t think that fight is going to happen next and neither does O’Malley.
While I don’t see the O’Malley fight happening, I do see a fight with him and another former champion. The perfect next step for Zahabi is a fight with Deiveson Figueiredo who just won last week at UFC Rio. Figgy is currently ranked sixth and will be just ahead of Zahabi in the rankings. That fight makes all the sense in the world for all parties.
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