UFC Freedom 250 fighter still hasn’t received contract for White House fight

Aiemann Zahabi still hasn’t signed a contract for his fight at UFC Freedom 250.

Zahabi, from Canada, is one of the top contenders in the UFC bantamweight division at the moment. At UFC Freedom 250, which goes down on June 14 on the White House lawn, he is set to take a big step up against former champ Sean O’Malley.

The fight was announced by the UFC weeks ago, but with contracts unsigned, it’s still not official on paper.

Zahabi revealed this surprising detail during a meet-up with streamer N3on.

UFC Freedom 250: Zahabi still hasn’t signed contract for O’Malley fight

“How it usually works with UFC, you send them a text to confirm” Zahabi explained. “Right away, they send you a confirmation that they received your message and the next date, within twenty four hours, I get a fight contract. It’s signed, it’s done, it’s sealed.”

“I got nothing, I still don’t have a contract.”

While this is definitely a bit unusual, and might worry other fighters, Zahabi seems to be taking it in stride.

“The UFC is good with their word,” he said.

Ahead of UFC Freedom 250, Zahabi is riding seven straight wins, most notably beating Marlon “Chito” Vera, Jose Aldo, and Pedro Munhoz. A win over O’Malley will make him one of the top contenders at bantamweight. However, he is one of the oldest fighters in the division, at 38. If he’s going to fight for a title, he’ll need to make it happen soon.

His opponent, O’Malley, is riding a win over Song Yadong. Before that, he suffered back-to-back championship losses to Merab Dvalishvili.

The White House card will be headlined by lightweight title fight, with champ Ilia Topuria defending against Justin Gaethje, who holds the interim belt. In the co-main event, Alex Pereira will move up to heavyweight to fight Ciryl Gane for the division’s interim title.

The O’Malley vs. Zahabi is the final fight on the bill before we get to the title fights, making it even stranger that contracts haven’t been signed.