UFC Vegas 87 had some amazing fights on the prelims before the likes of Vitor Petrino, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Muhammad Mokaev, and Umar Nurmagomedov rocked the Octagon on the main card. Out of the 6 prelims fights, 4 ended in stoppages and 2 went to the judges’ cards. During the event, UFC fans spotted MMA journalist Ariel Helwani competing inside the Octagon!
Massive win for @Aiemannzahabi🔥
He wins via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)@arielhelwani you have a lookalike😂#UFCVegas87
pic.twitter.com/0xA1Gdtlwt— FightCrack (@FightCrack) March 2, 2024
Did the infamous former ESPN reporter fight for Dana White’s company? Not really. It was Aiemann Zahabi who has an uncanny resemblance with Mr. Helwani. Zahabi fought Javid Basharat on the prelims in a three-round bantamweight fight. It was one of the 2 bouts that went the full distance and Zahabi won the bout via decision.
Fans react compare Aiemann Zahabi to Ariel Helwani after UFC Vegas 87 win
The bout between Aiemann Zahabi and Javid Basharat was quite a close one. Zahabi landed a total of 77 strikes in 15 minutes and 75 of them were significant strikes. Basharat, on the other hand, landed 67 total strikes and all of them were counted as significant. Javid also had 4 failed takedown attempts and neither fighter managed to take the bout to the ground. Hence, the verdict was not really a controversial one.
However, Javid Basharat was an unbeaten prospect and Aiemann defeating him certainly came as a surprise to some fans. After the result, fans made an interesting observation about Zahabi. The 36-year-old is the younger brother of Georges St-Pierre‘s former coach Firas Zahabi. While Aiemann used to have a head full of hair, he has shaved it off recently. As a result, his face has started to resemble Arial Helwani’s.
Ariel Helwani beat an undefeated prospect in Vegas and later commentates Jake Paul’s fight in Puerto Rico, hardest working man in the business 👃🏼 pic.twitter.com/LUIpfpGVVd
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) March 2, 2024
Pointing that out, one fan added, “Ariel Helwani beat an undefeated prospect in Vegas and later commentates Jake Paul’s fight in Puerto Rico, hardest working man in the business.”
Here are some fan reactions on it
Dude is literally a fusion of his older bro and Helwani
— SUUUPAchocoleteCAKEEE (@supachococake) March 2, 2024
no one works harder than the nose pic.twitter.com/4h2pvZx1IW
— Batmmane (@pepeluvsmma) March 2, 2024
This man doesn’t stop
— la_gent (@lagent213) March 2, 2024
well done Ariel 🥸👃
— 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐲 (@YunixFrosty) March 2, 2024
DC could never 😤
— Max (@combatconvos) March 2, 2024
Aiemann Zahabi has found some decent form inside the Octagon. After beating Reginaldo Vieira on his UFC debut, Zahabi lost two successive fights against Ricardo Ramos and Vince Morales. But since then, he has assembled 4 back-to-back wins in the UFC. Despite that, he is yet find himself in the top 15. However, the win against Javid Basharat will certainly help Zahabi secure a ranking soon.