For Aiemann Zahabi, a family name brings big expectations in UFC debut

While perusing the lineup for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 105 event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, seasoned fight fans might come across a familiar name in an unfamiliar place.

Aiemann Zahabi, the younger brother of noted fight trainer Firas Zahabi, makes his UFC debut against Reginaldo Vieira on the prelims. And when you’re walking around a sport like this with a last name like that, there’s really no way to avoid some high expectations.

That’s been the story with the younger Zahabi’s career ever since he started. After his brother gained fame as the longtime coach of former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Zahabi essentially lost the ability to go out and build his name in the cage one fight at a time.

“When I first started my career people would ask me who I was going to fight, and it was like they expected me to say Mike Tyson or something, some name they’d recognize,” Zahabi (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie. “But it takes a lot to get up to that point, a lot of paying your dues and working up the ladder.”

That hasn’t always been easy for Zahabi, despite his undefeated record. Coming from Montreal, where the MMA scene has diminished in recent years, it was tough just to get fights. Promoters from elsewhere weren’t often willing to fly in a fighter with a 2-0 record, and those who were might have been more interested in the name than the person.

Fortunately, Zahabi had an experienced and at times overprotective brother by his side. Firas was nearly eight years old when Aiemann was born, and from the start their father made it clear that one of Firas’ chief responsibilities was looking out for his little brother, who was now the youngest of four boys in the family.

In a way, Zahabi said, it was like growing up with two dads.

“Since I was kid, he always watched over me, took me where I needed to go, trained me and taught me,” Zahabi said. “School was an education, but at home with my brother was an education too. He taught me a lot about philosophy, how to think, how to act, and that carries over into fighting too.”

It was their father who first put the boys into martial arts. He was adamant that they learn to defend themselves, because his sons weren’t about to let themselves be picked on in school.

Firas took to the training with a passion. He became a muay Thai fighter, then took up jiu-jitsu, with his little brother following him every step of the way.

As Firas’ career as a coach took off along with the reputation of his TriStar gym in Montreal, Aiemann initially pursued a different path. He’d go to college, he decided. He’d become an accountant.

Then two years into his studies he scheduled a meeting with his older brother. There was something they needed to discuss.

“I told him, ‘Listen, I want to drop out of school and go into MMA,’” Zahabi said. “I wasn’t sure how he’d react, but he just looked at me and said, ‘This is the best decision you’ve ever made.’”

But it’s not always easy to be siblings in this sport, especially not when one’s the coach and the other is his fighter. When he’s preparing for a fight, Zahabi said, his brother often seems to go harder on him than he does on the other guys.

“It’s just because he doesn’t want me to get hurt in there,” Zahabi said. “He’s always pushing me to the limit and trying to perfect all the little things, just for the sake of my health, because he knows what can happen to you in there if you’re not prepared or you’re not in shape.”

But it’s not easy on the older brother, either, especially when he feels responsible for the sibling who followed him into what can be a cruel and unforgiving sport.

“If I told Firas I wasn’t going to fight anymore I think that would also make him happy in a different way, because then he wouldn’t worry so much,” Zahabi said. “He stresses out more for my fights.”

Sunday’s bantamweight bout will likely only bring more stress on the outside of the cage. The step up to the UFC can be a giant leap for some fighters. And when you’ve got a name like Zahabi’s, there’s one more reason for other people in the division to want to nail your pelt to their wall.

That particular brand of pressure is one he’s grown used to, according to Zahabi.

“To tell the truth, I enjoy it,” Zahabi said. “I’d rather people had expectations of me than just not care about me at all.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.