Aiemann Zahabi doesn’t understand all the controversy surrounding his victory over Jose Aldo.
For the second straight fight, Aldo appeared to be on the losing end of a controversial scorecard. After three rounds of intense action that had fans on their feet, clamoring for more, many assumed that ‘Junior’ would walk away the winner via a third-round flurry that saw him drop the Quebec native. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Zahabi went on to win a unanimous decision over Aldo at UFC 315 in Canada, much to the chagrin of viewers who immediately took to social media, lambasting judges for another inept scorecard.
During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the streaking Canadian standout made his case, believing that he was the more aggressive fighter throughout and controlled a larger portion of the third round.
“I think I won hands down, you know. I heard that you thought the other guy won, which is odd… Listen, guys, I definitely watched the fight 100 times after,” Zahabi told Helwani. “I won rounds two and three very clearly. The striking was very close, but I landed the more significant strikes all the way to the end of the second round, and he was backpedaling the whole round.
“I was definitely the more aggressive fighter in round two, and in round three I thought I clearly won also. He only won 30 seconds of round three. I won three minutes of round three. I did a lot of damage at the end. He was tired, he was broken by the end. By the end of round three, I think most people would rather be me than be him.”
Did Aiemann Zahabi really win round three?
While he easily outstruck Aldo by more than 30 strikes in the third round, the first two stanzas were far closer. Aldo actually outlanded his opponent in the first, though only by two strikes. In the second, Zahabi landed 26 total strikes vs. Aldo’s 25.
Looking at the stats on paper, you’d think Zahabi clearly won the final round. Truth be told, it’s not that simple.
While Zahabi certainly came alive in the latter half of the round, Aldo nearly finished things with a big knee up the middle at the 1:20 mark of the third. ‘Junior’ followed that up with a perfectly timed head kick that caught his opponent and dropped him. Aldo then chased down Zahabi, who was running for his life. Unfortunately, Aldo couldn’t get the finish and ultimately gassed himself out, allowing Zahabi to fight his way back into the round.
Was Zahabi’s late-round comeback enough to mitigate being knocked down by the featherweight GOAT? In the eyes of many, no. In Zahabi’s eyes, absolutely. But in the end, it all came down to three opinions, and they all favored the man fighting in his home country.
