Aiemann Zahabi thinks a Merab Dvalishvili win at UFC 323 paired with good timing of other upcoming bantamweight matchups could set him up for a championship opportunity in early 2026.
The 135-pound weight class is currently under the spotlight with Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) seeking a record fourth defense in a calendar year in Saturday’s headliner against Petr Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC), which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+/Disney+/FX).
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Along with the title fight, UFC 323 features a ranked matchup of Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott, then at UFC 324 on Jan. 24, a pair of critical bouts will go down with Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong and Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. Zahabi was noticeably absent from the recent announcements for the January fights, and that’s because he sustained a complete break to his left arm that required surgery in his split decision win over Marlon Vera at UFC Fight Night 262 in Vancouver.
Although there was some disappointment he wasn’t put in one of the marquee matchups, Zahabi, who is currently on a seven-fight winning streak and No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, could see his forced time off having a massive silver lining. But Dvalishvili needs to win with minimal damage and request another quick turnaround to bring it to reality.
“I feel like it kind of works out in my benefit,” Zahabi told MMA Junkie. “All I need is for Merab to win on Saturday. I’ve never really rooted for another bantamweight other than on my team to win, but I feel like if he wins I may be next. Because everyone else is fighting in January, Merab wants to fight every three, four months. Who else is going to be ready for him in March? I feel like it kind of leaves it wide open, because everyone else he’s beat except for Figueiredo, I think. And Song. It’s me, Figueiredo and Song are the only ones who haven’t fought yet. Plus, my seven-fight winning streak? There’s some value there.
“Even Tim Welch said it would be a good fight for Sean O’Malley. Umar Nurmagomedov calling me out, too. I felt like the hot girl in high school who everyone wants to take to prom to end my seven-fight winning streak. Why not me next?”
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Zahabi, 38, said he has a checkup with his doctor and Wednesday and is hopeful that he’ll receive full clearance to ease back into training. If all goes well, he wants to compete in the first quarter of next year, and in his perfect world the timing breaks in his favor to get his opportunity at gold.
He doesn’t want to discount Yan and his ability to shake up the weight class at UFC 323, but with the challenger coming in as a significant betting underdog, it’s going to be an uphill climb. Zahabi said there’s a path, but it’s not an easy one to pull off.
“It’s not going to take a lot of strikes to win that fight – it’s not,” Zahabi said. “Cory (Sandhagen) got rocked in Round 2 and rocked Merab in Round 5. He didn’t have to hit him a lot of times to rock him. There is something there. Yan doesn’t have to hit the target that many times. More importantly, don’t get exhausted by the takedowns and the mat returns and pick your shots so when you strike you don’t give up the takedown.
“Find a way to connect. That’s basically what’s it’s going to come down to. Can he connect hard enough and enough times to wobble him and still prevent the takedown. That’s got to be the general game plan to beat this guy. … Yan is going to have something different. He’s going to cook something up.”
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To hear more from Zahabi, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Aiemann Zahabi wants Merab Dvalishvili win at UFC 323: ‘I may be next’
