Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley requested a fight against sixth-ranked Aiemann Zahabi for his last fight. He got Song Yadong instead. Zahabi picked up a win over former titlte challenger Marlon Vera in his last outing and called out O’Malley. The two will meet on the UFC Freedom 250 main card at the White House on June 14.
Zahabi showed up on O’Malley’s radar following his UFC 315 win over Brazilian legend and former two-time featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo.
“I think the first time I saw him was when he fought Aldo was the first time I had really heard about him and he was tough, durable, skilled, comes from a good camp. Got another win against ‘Chito,’ called me out and I was like, I’m down for that fight. I asked for that fight last fight. They gave me Song. Here we are,” O’Malley told UFC on Paramount +.
“He’s very durable. He’s very tough, but that’s what’s going to get him hurt is how tough he is, how durable he is, and I’m going to land big shots over and over.”
O’Malley’s end game is to get back to a title fight, but knows that will at least require an impressive performance at the White House.
“I have to finish Zahabi, you know. I can’t go out there and get a boring win. Got to go out there and finish him. And even then, it’s, you know, we’ll see,” O’Malley said. “He’s very tough, very durable. I’m going to have to land a knockout shot multiple times and, you know, I’m capable of doing that against his style and landing good shots a lot.”
