May 10 was a huge night for Aiemann Zahabi who takes the biggest victory of his career for his home fans.
In anticipation of UFC 315, fans were somewhat critical of the matchup between Zahabi of Montreal and Jose Aldo, where many wanted to see the Brazilian icon more established names.
This only increased after the result of the competition in which Zahabi Aldo defeated through a controversial unanimous decision after a big fight.
Although they first met in the Octagon this last weekend in the Bell Center, this was not the first time that the Canadian has spent time preparing the former featherweight champion.
Zahabi was instructed to simulate Aldo 14 years ago, where his teammate fell short at UFC 136.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty images
Kenny Florian responds to Aiemann Zahabi jokes that he finally got revenge on Jose Aldo for him
When his fight with Jose Aldo was announced, Aiemann Zahabi thought about the time he spent simulating the featherweight champion for UFC 136.
Kenny Florian would challenge the Brazilian for the 145 pound title in Houston, Texas, where the American fell short of five rounds in what the last fight of his career would be.
In his interview after the fight, Zahabi joked that he finally got revenge on his former teammate after he had lifted his hand at UFC 315.
“Kenny Florian, I have him honey, okay. 14 years later we did it. Okay, Kenny, I have you.”
In the latest episode of the Anik & Florian Podcast, UFC commentator Jon Anik gave his first reaction to the clip that Zahabi's comments had missed.
“F— JA AIEMANN! Did you see that? [Zahabi]. Guy, that's f— – great. “
Florian continued with what it was like to see that his former training partner won the victory after he was such a valuable possession during his UFC 136 preparations.
“It's pretty amazing. Complete disclosure, I have a long history with Aiemann. So to see him win this fight against a man we started preparing 14 years ago, in Montreal, where Aiemann was one of my most important sparring partners, he pulled him for a week or two to Boston.
“He did every training I did, he didn't have to spar for it and man, he was with me every step of the way he is just the way he is. That's how hard he worked in his early 20s.
“Just great to see him fight against a living legend like Jose Aldo and to win the way he did was extremely inspiring. But not surprised.”
What should the next for Aiemann Zahabi?
After the last update of the ranking, Aiemann Zahabi after UFC 315 climbed four places to keep the #11 ranking in the Bantamweight Division.
The Canadian shouted Marlon Vera in his interview after the fight and although that is a matchup that is very logical, 'Chito' has already been booked to be against Mario Bautista next month.
Although the winner or loser of that fight could be a potential opponent, there are also not bad options from Rob Font or Henry Cejudo.
Zahabi secretly continued to climb the ladder with six consecutive victories and although the score cards were controversial, he led a great fight with Jose Aldo.