Aiemann Zahabi now bears the look of a legitimate threat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.
Economical standup and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Tristar Gym representative to a unanimous decision over onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Pedro Munhoz in the featured UFC Fight Night 246 prelim on Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Zahabi (12-2, 6-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judiciary.
Munhoz (20-10, 10-10 UFC) forced the Canadian onto the back foot but walked into heavy fire while doing so. Zahabi cut loose with two and three jabs at a time, fired right hands over the top and targeted the body whenever the mood arose. Munhoz stayed aggressive from beginning to end, but by the time it was over, visible damage had accumulated around both of the American Top Team-trained Brazilian’s eyes and his counterpart had built a nice lead on the scorecards.
Zahabi, 36, has won four fights in a row.
Meanwhile, ex-TKO Major League MMA titleholder Charles Jourdain disposed of Victor Henry with a guillotine choke in the second round of their bantamweight clash. Henry (24-7, 3-2 UFC), who had never before been finished, raised the white flag 3:43 into Round 2.
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Jourdain (16-8-1, 7-7-1 UFC) attacked the onetime Deep champion with a variety of weapons at a variety of levels, as he utilized kicks to the body and legs, probing jabs and occasional foot sweeps. Henry struck for a trip takedown midway through the second round, moved to the back with a body triangle and searched for potential openings. Jourdain stayed composed under duress, scrambled to his feet and surprised the Josh Barnett protégé with the choke. Henry struggled briefly, then realized there was no escape.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Jourdain.
Further down the undercard, Factory X standout Youssef Zalal put away former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Jack Shore with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their featherweight encounter. Shore (17-3, 6-3 UFC) checked out 59 seconds into Round 2, losing for the third time in four appearances.
The 28-year-old Zalal (16-5-1, 4-1 UFC) tested the waters with a variety of techniques in the first round, then made his move on the Welshman. He floored Shore with a devastating knee strike in the center of the cage, flurried with follow-up shots, powered into full mount and framed the arm-triangle. From there, he tightened his squeeze and waited for the tapout.
Zalal has rattled off six consecutive victories, all of them finishes.
Finally, Alexander Romanov rebounded from a June 1 submission loss to Jailton Almeida with a unanimous decision over American Top Team’s Rodrigo Nascimento in a plodding three-round heavyweight confrontation. All three judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Romanov (18-3, 7-3 UFC).
Nascimento (11-3, 4-3 UFC) struggled to generate meaningful output for much of the match. Romanov executed multiple takedowns in the first round, corralled the Brazilian along the fence and fed him a repeated knees to the thighs and glute. The Lion Club-trained Moldovan conducted his business on the feet across the final 10 minutes, pecking away at Nascimento in two- and three-punch intervals while show little regard for the return fire.
The 31-year-old Nascimento has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time as a pro.
In other action, ex-Battlefield Fight League titleholder Serhiy Sidey (11-2, 1-1 UFC) eked out a contentious split decision—28-29, 29-28, 29-28—against Garrett Armfield in a three-round bantamweight affair; “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31 finalist Cody Gibson (21-10, 3-5 UFC) cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision over Chad Anheliger (13-8, 2-3 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight scrap, drawing 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 marks from the cageside judges; and former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jamey-Lyn Horth (7-1, 2-1 UFC) took a split decision—30-27, 28-29, 29-28—from Ivana Petrovic (7-2, 1-2 UFC) in a three-round women’s flyweight tilt.
