He is better than people give him credit for. Nothing he does really looks fantastic or eye-catching at first. He isn't insanely fast, he isn't throwing spinning wheel kicks, he isn't taking people down and mauling them. Instead, he just seems good at gameplanning and lulling the other guy into his style/pace of fight. He has really good feints, timing, and distance management. Dudes seem to struggle hitting him clean these days. Sorta reminds me of how Eric Nicksick described Adesanya as a "snake-charmer" -- he makes his opponent second-guess themselves and sit there taking pictures until they get sniped with one of his big punches/blitzes, or until they get flustered and try to force something and get countered coming in. Zahabi does seem to hit deceptively hard for his size, though I think again his timing and accuracy play into this, too.
His toolkit is pretty basic, but it's good for frustrating lower-level opponents and getting him some wins. Zahabi himself is no spring chicken and one would think a crafty vet like Aldo wouldn't be foiled by this particular style... but I still have a weird feeling about this one for some reason.
