No. 6 UFC bantamweight and Canadian fighter Aiemann Zahabi took part in the UFC Freedom 250 media day in Washington on Wednesday.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Aiemann Zahabi is looking for a Canada win on Sunday at the White House.
The 38-year-old bantamweight from Montreal, the lone Canadian on the UFC 250 Freedom card, will take on former champion Sean (Suga) O’Malley on the mixed martial arts card to be held on the White House South Lawn.
Zahabi is determined to do Canada proud.
“I’ve been telling everybody this is like my thank you letter to Canada,” Zahabi said in an interview. “My parents emigrated here from Lebanon during the civil war. They moved here to give their kids a better life.
“Look at me,” he added. “I was born and raised in Canada and now I’m fighting at the White House.”
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The seven-fight card is part of the 250th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. It also falls on U.S. President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
Zahabi and the other fighters will walk out of the Oval Office when it comes time for their bout.
“I’m honoured to do so,” he said. “It’s a historic building. People around the world know what the White House is. People are going to be tuning in who have never even watched MMA at all. So I’m excited to get the opportunity to be out in front of all these people.”
Being on the White House card has already raised Zahabi’s visibility. He reckons he was interviewed close to daily in the month following the fight announcement.
Zahabi picked up a round one TKO at UFC 289 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver in 2010.Jordan Leigh/Getty Images
“I’ve never done so much media,” he said.
Zahabi campaigned to have Drake walk out with him. He is sponsored by Drake’s OVO label, thanks to reaching out to a member of the rapper’s security team whom he helped train.
There will reportedly be more than 4,000 spectators on site for the White House card, with the Octagon under a giant star-spangled lighting arch.
There will also be a UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest at the nearby Ellipse grounds, a 21-hectare park just south of the White House where up to 100,000 people can take in the fights.
Zahabi knows most will be cheering for O’Malley, a brash American.
“None of that matters to me. At the end of the day, they can’t fight for him. He’s stuck in the cage alone with me,” he said. “I’m just fighting one man who’s got one head and two arms and two legs.
“People forget I called him out. The UFC didn’t make this fight. I gave them the idea.”
Zahabi won a split decision over hard-nosed veteran Marlon (Chito) Vera last time out and issued a challenge during his postfight interview.
“I want Sean O’Malley next, baby. It’s me and the Suga Show,” said Zahabi.
Zahabi won a split decision over hard-nosed veteran Marlon (Chito) Vera last time out.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
O’Malley quickly posted a short response, simply showing a look of bemusement.
Said Zahabi: “It seems like we’re setting it up, boys. If he didn’t want it, he wouldn’t have made a video.”
Trump, no stranger to attending UFC cards, came up with the idea for the White House card, according to UFC president Dana White.
The two have been friends for more than 25 years, with White introducing Trump at the 2024 Republican convention.
“I’m in the tough guy business and this man is the toughest most resilient human being that I’ve ever met in my life,” White told the audience that night. “The higher the stakes, the harder he fights. And this guy never ever gives up.”
Zahabi is diplomatic when it comes to Canada-U.S. politics in the lead-up to the fight card.
“We’re family, we’re brothers,” he said of the two neighbours. “So sometimes brothers are on the ins and sometimes brothers are on the outs. But at the end of the day, we’re family because we share the longest border [in the world]. We’re not going to get away from them completely. Our economies are intertwined [in] so many ways.
“I see this as just sports,” he added. “I try not to take too much of a hard political stance. I don’t have the knowledge.”
The headline bout pits lightweight titleholder Ilia (El Matador) Topuria, a Georgian-Spanish fighter who has also held the UFC featherweight crown, against interim 155-pound champion Justin (The Highlight) Gaethje of the U.S. The co-main event sees former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Alex (Poatan) Pereira of Brazil face No. 1 contender Ciryl (Bon Gamin) Gane of France for the interim heavyweight title.
Zahabi, seen here celebrating his UFC 289 win in Vancouver, says he's proud to represent Canada at the first-ever UFC event held at the White House.Sergei Belski/Reuters
The Zahabi-O’Malley fight, the third from last on the show, will serve as the appetizer for the two title bouts.
Just being on the card shows that Zahabi is valued by the promotion.
“The only thing I really cared about going into this card was having people I could depend on being on the card. Fighters that you know,” White said in an interview with Time magazine. “They’re going to deal with levels of stress and weird things that they’re not used to.
“For instance the night of the fight, when they show up, they’re going to have to go through crazy security.”
Zahabi (14-2-0) has won seven straight since losing two of his first three UFC fights. He is currently ranked sixth among bantamweight (135-pound) contenders.
The 31-year-old O’Malley (19-3-0 with one no contest) is tied with Russian Umar Nurmagomedov for second in the rankings in the division currently ruled by Russian Peter (No Mercy) Yan.
Zahabi hopes a win over O’Malley will lead to a shot at Yan, whom O’Malley defeated via split decision in a non-title fight in October, 2022.
“If we could have it here in Montreal why not?” Zahabi said enthusiastically, referencing a Yan title bout. “We’re not going to Russia right now because of the political environment. But me and Peter Yan at the Bell Centre sounds pretty nice to me.”
O’Malley, a tall mobile fighter with a penchant for counter-striking, won the bantamweight title in August, 2023 via TKO over American Aljamain (Funk Master) Sterling at UFC 292. He defended the title once, beating Vera, before losing it to Georgian Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September, 2024.
Sean O’Malley, the third-ranked UFC bantamweight fighter, will face Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“He’s a smart guy. He comes from a good team, O’Malley,” Zahabi said. “I still see holes in his striking game. I’m not afraid to strike with his guy.”
O’Malley won his UFC contract at 22 when he knocked out Alfred (The Fearless) Khashakyan on Dana White’s Contender Series in July, 2017. “Welcome to the Suga show. This is my show,” he proclaimed.
A colourful character with multihued hair and a body adorned with a rainbowlike array of ink, O’Malley went 8-1-0 with one no contest in his first 10 UFC outings.
His bank account well stocked, O’Malley went about spending some of it.
In a video for GQ, he detailed how where his first US$1-million went. Some US$500,000 went into rental investment properties, with US$220,000 spent on his car collection – including a down payment on a pink Lamborghini. He also gave his mother and partner US$50,000 each on Mother’s Day.
“They’re worth way more than that but it’s the thought that counts,” he said.
He also spent US$50,000 on Toyota Prius cars for his family and paid off his mother’s Nissan. Another US$200,000 went for personal jewellery.
After losing to Dvalishvili in the UFC 316 rematch in June, 2025, O’Malley bounced back by winning a 29-28 decision over No. 5 Song Yadong of China last time out at UFC 324 in January.
“I thought Song Yadong won. I gave him the first two rounds,” said Zahabi.
On Tuesday, workers continued building the stage for the upcoming UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House.Cliff Owen/The Associated Press
Zahabi will be cornered by his older brother, Firas Zahabi, a storied trainer who guided the career of former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre who is also expected to join them at the White House.
Zahabi, the youngest of four brothers, started martial arts at five with karate. He was studying accounting at McGill, after taking commerce at CEGEP, before he took up MMA full time.
He has proven to be a formidable and durable opponent.
Zahabi required surgery after the Vera bout in Vancouver last October to repair a left forearm that was broken by a kick in the second round.
“I’m hard to kill,” he said after the fight.
Zahabi kept the injury to himself, fearing that if he told his corner someone from the local commission might hear him and stop the fight.
The win moved him up to No. 6 from No. 9 in the UFC rankings.
Zahabi also showed his mettle in the fight before Vera, when he won a unanimous decision over former champion José Aldo in May, 2025 at UFC 315 in Montreal.
The Aldo fight was shifted to featherweight (145 pounds) when the Brazilian star had issues making 135 pounds. He eventually weighed in at 143 pounds, one more than Zahabi.
Zahabi survived an early onslaught from Aldo in the first round, finding his timing as the fight progressed. Aldo dropped Zahabi with a knee and head kick in the third round but Zahabi survived and took advantage of a failed takedown attempt by a tiring Aldo midway through the third round.
Aldo ended on his back with Zahabi carving him open with elbows from above.
After two close rounds, Zahabi closed out the bout with a 52-20 edge in significant strikes in the third, earning a unanimous 29-28 decision that prompted Aldo to announce his retirement in the cage.
St-Pierre says Zahabi’s No. 1 attribute is his fighting IQ. Zahabi agrees.
“I’m not physically gifted with athleticism, so I like to use my mind to win the fight,” Zahabi said in a 2025 interview.
“I like to find their weakness and exploit that. Fight to my strengths and fight to their weakness. It’s something Georges has been telling us for years to do and I really feel like I grasped that nugget from him.”
Zahabi worked on his mental game after a KO loss to Brazil’s Ricardo Ramos at UFC 217 in November, 2017.
“The Ramos fight kind of took my confidence and my chin away a little bit,” he said. “The fear was eating me up.”
A book called The Tools helped turn things around. The book contained the mantra – “I love the pain. The pain will set me free.” Zahabi changed it to “I love the fear. The fear will set me free.”
He has gone 7-1-0 since.
Away from the gym, the father of two owns a small brokerage firm managing a couple of trucks that usually transport fruit and vegetables.