Edmen Shahbazyan is one of the youngest ranked fighters in the UFC. This Saturday, he returns to action against Jack Hermansson in a middleweight contest.
Shahbazyan is looking to rebound from his first pro loss, which came to Derek Brunson this past August.
“That first loss taught me a lot. I am just excited to get back in there and really show my improvements and get the win. In that fight I really wanted to go for the finish,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish [the fight with [Derek Brunson] and that kind of gassed me out, so if I can stay calm and relaxed, not rush for the finish, that’s one of the big adjustments.”
Prior to the setback to Brunson, Shahbazyan had posted 11 consecutive wins, including five inside the Octagon. That stretched featured victories over Brad Tavares and Jack Marshman via finish.
To prepare for Hermansson, his team brought in Russian kickboxing champion Artem Vakhitov.
“He’s not far away, it all depends how the division goes. If this fight goes well then maybe a fight or two after that and then maybe a world title shot. Maybe a year, year and a half. He’s young, all these veterans are older. They are wiser, more physically mature, they are at their peak. Edmen has time,” his coach, Edmond Tarverdyan said. “Obviously Jack Hermansson is not the same level of striking as Vakhitov, but I wanted challenges for Edmen to overcome. [Edmen] was a boxer before he switched to MMA. His kickboxing still has room to improve, so I wanted to a top kickboxer to come in and give us a challenge.
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