Edmen Shahbazyan has made a habit of running right through his opponents.
The undefeated 21-year-old has finished nine of his 10 pro wins in the first round, and is coming off back-to back, first-round finishes over Charles Byrd and Jack Marshman.
Shahbazyan takes on Brad Tavares at UFC 244 in New York, and says expect an even more improvement when he enters the octagon at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 2.
“Just expect it to be a great fight because I’m coming out there to perform the best of my abilities,” Shahbazyan told MMA Junkie. “If it’s a finish, it’s a finish, if it’s a decision, it’s a decision but be prepared to see the best version of me yet.”
“This is a great fight, Tavares is ranked higher than me – I don’t care about rankings honestly but a lot of people do, but he’s ranked higher than me and it’s a great fight. I’m excited for it, I’m motivated to come out there and put on a show.”
While Shahbazyan (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has only gone past the first round once in his career, Tavares has gone the distance 10 times, which is as much pro fights as Shahbazyan has had in his entire career.
But “The Golden Boy” is ready to go all 15 minutes if need be, and says he learnt valuable lessons in his lone decision win over Darren Stewart in his UFC debut in 2018.
“I wrestled the whole fight,” Shahbazyan said on his UFC debut. “I was trying to show a new part of my game that people didn’t know about because coming in as a fast finisher, striker, but I implemented a different part of my game and that was the wrestling part.”
“That helped me a lot to get that wrestling grind in there, and the octagon jitters along with it.”
Shahbazyan was originally scheduled to face Krzysztof Jotko, but an injury forced Jotko out, and Tavares, who also lost his previous opponent Ian Heinisch, stepped in instead. Stylistically, the change in opponent won’t affect Shahbazyan’s preparation much, as fortunately for him, he was getting ready for both stances anyway.
“The only thing different is that Tavares in an orthodox and Jotko was a southpaw,” Shahbazyan said. “But here’s the funny thing, actually preparing for Jotko, we were preparing for both a southpaw and an orthodox so I guess it worked out perfectly. It ended up being an orthodox fighter, and it worked out, preparing for both.”
With the goal to become the youngest champion in UFC history, Shahbazyan is definitely on the right track, as an impressive win over Tavares could catapult him to the upper echelon of the division.
And although he’s taking things one step at a time, he is ready for everything that comes with his rise in the division.
“I honestly take it fight by fight,” Shahbazyan said. “I know that every time I win, they’re going to be higher ranked opponents that I’m going to face and that’s eventually going to lead me to title contention. Just taking it one fight at a time, focusing on each fighter individually is the best way, and the way that I look at it, and that’s just the way that I prepare.”
Training out of Glendale, Calif. under the tutelage of Edmond Tarverdyan, the same trainer who coached former bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, Shahbazyan is well aware of the criticism his coach continues to receive, but is happy to be the one to prove doubters otherwise.
“A lot of people criticize him and this, that but they didn’t know behind the scenes like what actually goes on,” Shahbazyan said. “Yeah I hope I’m showing all these people what’s up right now, I’ve been with Edmond from a young age, I started with Edmond so pretty much like he taught me most of my knowledge in fighting. Screw all the haters, they could see what’s going on right now.”
And it will be another marquee event for the young Shahbazyan who will once again be competing on a PPV card. This time on the East Coast, as he looks to put on another spectacular performance on the big stage.
“It’s a historical arena and I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to perform out there in New York,” Shahbazyan said. “I’ve never been to New York so it’ll be my first time there and I’m just excited to put on a show for everybody. I’m coming out there to put on a great show, that’s pretty much it. I’m ready, I’m hungry, motivated and I just can’t wait for Nov.2.”
Edmen Shahbazyan plans to be 'the best version of me yet' vs. Brad Tavares
