AfriqueCAN
Aiemann Zahabi shocked UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo in a featherweight main card fight at UFC 315 on Saturday night, after which Aldo announced his retirement.
Zahabi (13-2) won by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) and the Canadian has now won six straight fights.
The fight was originally scheduled to be disputed at the bantamweight division, but was changed to featherweight on Friday after both fighters checked in above the weight limit.
Aldo (32-10), of Brazil, announced his retirement from MMA fighting after a 21-year career.
The card is headlined by welterweight title bout pitting Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena and a women’s flyweight title matchup between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot.
Saturday’s card was the first in Canada since Donald Trump was re-elected US president in November. It comes amid growing political tensions between Canada and the US, as Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st US state, and some of that tension spilled over.
Canadian Mike Malott (12-2-1) won his fight with American Charles Radtke (10-5) by knockout 26 seconds into the second round of their welterweight bout. Malott took down Radtke with a clean left hook and would not let up, striking his opponent with repeated followup blows to seal the knockout.
Radtke was met with jeers and curses from fans throughout the fight in response to comments he made to Canadian fans at a pre-fight news conference on Wednesday and the booing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Canadian sporting events in recent months.
Radtke said “when you all boo the national anthem, somebody’s gonna have to pay for that.”
In the women’s flyweight division, Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius (14-3) took down Brazilian Jessia Andrade (26-14) by submission just over halfway through the first round.
“When I was preparing for this fight, I kept on thinking about it being a quick finish,” said Jasudavicius. “I kept on telling myself to be ready for 15 hard minutes and everything.”
Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9) also knocked out opponent Bruno Silva (23-13) 1:27 into the opening round of their middleweight bout with an elbow struck to the side of Silva’s head. Silva left the octagon on a stretcher.
Benoit Saint Denis (14-3) beat Kyle Prepolec (12-8) by submission in the opening main card fight. The Frenchman took down the Canadian with an arm-triangle choke midway through the second round.
Prepolec only found out less than two weeks ago he would be fighting in Montreal. The 35-year-old was called in to replace Joel Alvarez, who has a hand injury.