Renowned MMA trainer Firas Zahabi isn’t the only member of the family with fighting skills.
Younger brother Aiemann Zahabi (5-0-0) puts his unbeaten record on the line Saturday night when he takes on Winnipeg bantamweight Kyle Oliveira (3-1-0) at "Prestige FC 2: Queen City Coronation" in Regina.
Firas, who has attracted a stable of stars to Montreal’s Tristar Gym, will be in his brother’s corner as he has been for former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, welterweight contender Rory MacDonald and a host of other top fighters.
The 28-year-old Aiemann has been training with Firas, who is seven years older, since he was 15.
Are there any minuses to the Zahabi last name?
"Not really," says Aiemann (pronounced A-mahn), who often goes by A-Zee.
"He doesn’t train for me, he doesn’t lift weights for me, he doesn’t roll for me, box for me. I have to do all the work," he added. "But it does open some doors and I think that’s great for the long haul, to have the opportunity to be exposed to good coaches, good fighters, good atmosphere."
In the main event at the Orr Centre, Saskatoon’s Kurt (The Hurt) Southern (14-6-0) takes on American Nick (Nyquil) Rhoads (8-3-0) for the Prestige FC featherweight title. A 145-pound belt is also up for grabs in the co-main event with Regina’s Charmaine (Not So Sweet) Tweet (7-5-0) facing American Jessy (The Widowmaker) Miele (5-2-0).
A new promotion, Prestige FC held its first show in October. It is owned by Saskatchewan businessman Derek Daku with Regina-based Cord Crowthers serving as CEO and matchmaker.
Aiemann got a taste of the Prestige promotion when he attended the first card as a cornerman.
"I had a great experience with the guys. Everyone was treated really well."
Aiemann was happy to find somewhere to fight. Opportunities have been drying up in Quebec.
"It’s hard to get fights because there’s not many events. And then when there are events, every fighter in Montreal wants to be on it."
It doesn’t help when you are going through opponents like a knife through butter. Aiemann has won all his fights in the first round including an 18-second TKO over Jeremy Dichiara last time out. His five wins have taken a total of 11 minutes 55 seconds.
"I want to be a finisher," he said. "I want to be someone people want to watch."
Aiemann took up martial arts at the behest of his parents who, when he was headed to high school, wanted him to gain confidence and be able to defend himself. So they sent him to the gym with his brother.
He fell in love with martial arts. "The better I got, the more I wanted to train."
He started competing in wrestling and grappling tournaments, then Muay Thai fights.
"I ended up getting pretty good. I started coaching UFC fighters and travelling with them. MMA really opened the door for me to travel the world. I"ve been to Thailand, Brazil, I’ve been to Europe. It’s a positive thing in my life so I wanted to keep going."
The next step was fighting himself professionally.
Many say Firas could have been a top pro himself. But he elected to coach.
There are two older Zahabi brothers. The oldest is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and used to compete in Muay Thai while the second-oldest did a lot of karate and Muay Thai in his younger days but is no longer involved in the sport.
Aiemann hopes a dominant win Saturday might lead to the UFC. If not, he plans to fight for the Prestige title.
