Aiemann Zahabi had nearly completed his weight cut when he received news that his UFC 315 fight against Jose Aldo was being moved from bantamweight to featherweight.
At the official weigh-ins on Friday, it was revealed that Aldo was unable to make the bantamweight limit and was nine pounds over. The decision to move the fight to featherweight was made by the UFC doctor. Despite Aldo looking depleted on the scale, the fight will still go ahead.
Zahabi expressed his reaction to the weight class change while speaking with UFC Canadian broadcast partner SportsNet, mentioning that he was less than a pound away from making the bantamweight limit when he received the news.
Zahabi shared his experience of receiving the news, stating, “I was cutting my weight and I just got into the blankets this morning, and I was 136.8 pounds. Firas [Zahabi] was receiving the text and the calls to stop cutting.”
Zahabi also posted a video of himself weighing in just under 137 pounds on Friday morning after being informed of the weight class change.
Due to the fight potentially being cancelled and the change to featherweight, the standard weight miss penalties were not applicable. Zahabi disclosed that his team had to renegotiate the terms of his contract for the fight.
Considering the situation, Zahabi mentioned, “So then we got to think, we got to renegotiate… [because] we could say no. The fight’s off. Because of the five-pound difference, the fight’s off basically.”
Zahabi recounted how his brother advised him to renegotiate and accept the fight offer, leading to a successful negotiation with Sean Shelby to ensure the fight could proceed.