It’s been eleven months since we last saw Canadian Ayman Dahabi in action. The question is why?
“I’ve been struggling to get matches. I don’t know exactly how the whole system works, so we were looking for a manager this time, and we settled with Daniel Rubinstein,” Golden (9-2) told The Top Turtle Podcast on Cageside Press in an interview. with him recently.
Rubinstein heads up Ruby Sports & Entertainment, which Dahabi chose to move into after years of relying on his trainer/brother Firas and friends to run his fighting career. “So now I have signed him, and it will be the first time we work together. And then I hope after this, he can get a second without taking a year.”
Golden enters UFC 289 on a winning streak, and is knocked out by unanimous decision over the winner of Ultimate Fighter Ricky Turcios.
In Vancouver on Saturday night, Golden pairs up with Aori Qileng, a Mongolian bantamweight in a winning streak of his own. It got Golden “extremely excited” to start the fight at home. Although he enjoyed fighting at the UFC Apex, which he notes “caters to fighters”.
“I am happy to represent Canada. I grew up here, I was born and raised here, I love Canada. Canadians are amazing people, and it’s a great way to represent the country. I wear them in the cage with me.”
As for his upcoming opponent, “I’m up for 15 minutes of hell with this guy. I know he turns it up a little bit, but something I’ve noticed, when the fight gets tough or doesn’t necessarily get his way, gets you down,” Golden noted. “And he shot himself and got into the business. Kind of what I expected from Ricky.”
Golden is ready for all options, but if the battle touches Urey, Golden thinks he “will be like a bull in a china shop, and I have to be a bullfighter.”
Watch our full interview with Ayman Dahabi from UFC 289 above.