UFC Vancouver’s Aiemann Zahabi “would love to take [Marlon Vera’s] place”

Aiemann Zahabi is having the biggest run of his career and hopes to vault toward title shot proximity by beating a former title challenger. The Tristar product has the chance to do just that when he battles Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC Vancouver on October 18th.

A lot is falling into place for Zahabi, who spoke with MMA Canada and touched on how he called for this Vera bout after his massive Jose Aldo win in May at UFC 315. When addressing how important it was to him to get that desired next fight locked in, considering the expressed callout of Vera, Zahabi said [via MMA Canada],

“Yeah, of course. You know, it’s nice to have the call out you want. You know, I really appreciate the UFC and Sean Shelby for considering my ask, and I’m happy that we got it. You know, it feels good, and I’m really happy it’s back in Canada. I want to say a huge thank you to the Montrealers, the Québécois, and all of the Canadians who came out to the Bell Centre. You guys gave me a memory that I will never forget. Thank you guys so much.”

UFC Vancouver and its potential to jettison Aiemann Zahabi toward gold
Getting a statement win over a former bantamweight title challenger in the UFC would certainly inform further climbing within that stacked 135-pound divisional hierarchy. When discussing how key this fight is to serve that idea of getting him near title contention, Zahabi stated [via MMA Canada],

“Yeah, of course. You know, that’s one, you know, one of the things that was cool about calling out Marlon is he fought for the belt before, you know. So like beating him, it just it really helps my resume, you know. Gives me like the case to break into the top 10, you know. Now I’m number 10, but I want to get inside the top 10.”

“He’s number seven, you know, hopefully beating him and lets me get into seven. Hopefully I would love to take his place. You know, he’s lost two in a row. And you know, if he fought for the title before, maybe they can consider me to fight someone like ranked between one and five after this if I win. you know, if I win, I would love to fight between one and five and then I’m right there for the title. It’s like we’re so close.”

“We’re so close. We’re building that momentum, you know. So, it’s interesting and I like I feel blessed that they gave me the person I called out, you know. To help me keep going forward. They’re not they’re not making me fight backwards, you know. I have; I won six straight and I have momentum and I love that the UFC recognized that and I want to thank them for helping me push forward.”