Brunson vs Shahbazyan Headliner Remains Three Rounds

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Earlier today (Weds., July 22, 2020) it was revealed that the women’s Bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Irene Aldana — which was scheduled to go down on Aug. 1, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada — was postponed after Aldana was forced to withdraw. As a result, a Middleweight bout Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan was promoted to headliner.

But according to Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com, the bout will not be upped to five rounds and will remain a three-round bout given the short nature the combatants were given. That or trying to reconstruct their respective contracts to go a possible 25 minutes instead of 15 was probably a headache the promotion simply wanted to avoid.

Brunson is coming off two straight wins over Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch. Meanwhile, Shahbazyan has remained perfect in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career thus far, going 11-0 including 4-0 inside the Octagon.

Edmen has been hailed as one of the best prospects at 185 pounds and a win over Brunson would definitely set him up for bigger and better things moving forward. Brunson, of course, would love nothing more than to add some points to his own stock by handing “The Golden Boy” his first-ever defeat.

To see the updated UFC “Brunson vs. Shahbazyan” fight card and line up for Aug. 1 in Las Vegas click here.