UFC legend Georges St-Pierre believes that referee Jason Herzog stopped the Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi fight too soon.

St-Pierre was in Zahabi’s corner when he fought O’Malley at UFC Freedom 250 in a key bantamweight bout. After O’Malley won the first round, he landed a huge punch in the second that knocked Zahabi to the floor. Herzog then rushed in and stopped the fight, even though Zahabi was not unconscious and appeared to still have his wits about him.

It’s in St-Pierre’s opinion that Herzog stepped in and stopped this fight early.

Georges St-Pierre Says Jason Herzog Stopped Zahabi vs. O’Malley Too Soon

Speaking on “The Break Talk” podcast, St-Pierre explained why he thinks Herzog stopped O’Malley vs. Zahabi too soon.

“The referee stopped the fight too fast, unfortunately. I think Aiemann could have recovered,” St-Pierre said. “Aiemann has a joker in his game, if I can use this expression. He’s very good on the floor, and he never really uses it, and it would have been good to see that.

“It would have been interesting. I would have loved to have seen what would have happened next if the fight hadn’t been stopped.”

Aiemann Zahabi Takes Huge Drop in UFC Rankings

After the new UFC Meta Rankings were released on Monday, Zahabi took a huge drop in them, as he fell all the way to No. 12.

While dropping a spot or two was expected since he lost by TKO to O’Malley, this is a way bigger drop than necessary and shows the flaws with the UFC‘s new AI-based ranking system, because there is no world where fighters like Marcus McGhee, Farid Basharat, and Deiveson Figueiredo should be ranked higher than Zahabi given how much success he has had in the weight class.

Ultimately, Zahabi has to get back into the Octagon and prove that he’s still a top guy after the loss to O’Malley. Whether or not you agree it was an early stoppage or not, the fact remains it’s a loss on his record, so he needs to get back in the cage soon and get back on track.