MONTREAL – Now that it's all over, Aiemann Zahabi no doubt would say it's water under the bridge.

But at the time, truth be told, the bantamweight could not have been thrilled that he got within less than a pound of making the bantamweight limit, only to be told his opponent, former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, wasn't even close.

In fact, it wasn't even just a simple matter of Aldo giving up a percentage of his purse for the weight infraction. In Quebec, where UFC 315 went down at Bell Centre in Montreal, more than a five-pound discrepancy would have shut the fight down.

Zahabi, who lives and trains in Montreal, was painted into the proverbial corner: No fight at all, or fight an ex-champ a division up – and after he had nowhere the same level of energy loss during his weight cut.

Zahabi (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) cut a new deal to fight Aldo (32-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC) at featherweight, then put on an absolute banger of a fight and won a decision in an upset.

Teammate and former UFC middleweight and longtime welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was in Zahabi's corner, along with his brother and head coach, Firas. St-Pierre knows a thing or two about making memorable moments in the sport.

"When he missed weight by eight pounds, the first thing Georges told me was, 'It's going to be so good for the story: Not only are you fighting a legend in the sport, you're fighting him 8 pounds up – you had to move up in weight for him (because he couldn't make weight).' And then getting rocked only adds to the adversity – and I overcame it all," Zahabi said after his win.

Zahabi won for the fifth straight time. The first four were at bantamweight, as his win over Aldo was originally contracted to be. Instead, Zahabi gave the ex-champ what amounted to a really bad retirement gift: Aldo announced his MMA retirement (for a second time) after the loss.

And Zahabi also joined some elite company as the only fighters to beat Aldo at 145 pounds: Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, and now Zahabi.

But taking the fight was a no-brainer.

"I was in a terrible spot. I was between a rock and a hard place," he told MMA Junkie. "The last time (the UFC) came to Montreal was 10 years ago. I don't know if they're coming back. My wife hasn't seen me fight live in five years because I was on a hot streak and I got the mental coach and I feel top of my game. I got my wife front-row tickets. I've got my family coming, my friends coming, everyone coming here.

"Do I fight, or do I not fight? If I wanted to become a legend, I would have to face adversity. I'd have to win when the odds were against me. I felt like I did that today."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 315: Aiemann Zahabi reveals Georges St-Pierre' legend-maker advice

MMA Mixed Martial Arts News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos