“I'm confident in any matchup. I'm in the top 10 now... With the way things are going with [bantamweight champion] Merab [Dvalishvili], he’s clearing out the division. Not to sound negative... Sean O'Malley is a great fighter and all that, but he fought Merab twice, so I don't think he's up next for the belt... There are some guys that will get the title fight before Sean O'Malley because he lost to Merab two times, and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I feel like I have the opportunity to fight someone that's No. 1, so I want to take it”

– Aiemann Zahabi, doubling down on a Sean O'Malley callout.

“How can he clown on me? I just won seven straight. He just lost two straight. He can't clown on me. Listen, it benefits him beating a guy who just won seven straight, right? Plus, I'm going to be 38 in a few weeks, man. Does he want a layup? Doesn't he need like a little layup? Does he need some help? You know, does he need something to make him look good? Beat an old guy like me, man. I've got seven straight, you know.Come fight old Uncle Aiemann, huh? Get over here, little guy. Give him a little noogie in the fight, you know what I mean?... Listen, me and Sean at the White House! Trump's birthday. Canada versus U.S. Canada wins, we get the United States. United States wins, we give them Canada. It's on the line. Put it on the table. It's big stakes, guys. It's big, big stakes. Listen, it's going to be a fun matchup. It's the same reason why I wanted to fight Marlon.”

– Aiemann Zahabi, in an unfiltered response on The Ariel Helwani Show.