Edmen Shahbazyan returns to the octagon on May 20 as he looks to extend his winning streak and fulfill his earlier premise in the sport, but must first get past the dangerous grappling expertise of a fellow rising star at middleweight.
'The Golden Boy' cut his bad run of form short with a TKO victory in his last outing, showcasing his power as he looks to revive a career in the UFC. Following a string of losses, the 185er chose to move away from Glendale Fighting Club and has set up shop at Xtreme Couture, where he finds himself 1-0 under their leadership.
As announced on social media earlier today, Edmen Shahbazyan will return to the cage at a UFC event on May 20 but will need to be at his best if he wants to come away with his hands raised against the tricky Anthony Hernandez.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
'Fluffy' has won each of his last three outings and has displayed enormous progression since his early days in the octagon. After a less-than-impressive 1-2 start to life in the UFC, the 29-year-old earned an iconic submission over multiple-time IBJJF gold medalist Rodolfo Vieira, kickstarting his winning spree in the sport.
Following his memorable guillotine choke win, the promising talent went on to spoil Josh Fremd's UFC debut with a decision victory and score an arm-triangle choke finish of Marc-Andre Barriault just three minutes from the end of their bout.
While it hasn't been confirmed at this time, given Shahbazyan's history as a top 10-ranked middleweight and Hernandez's standout performances as of late, the winner could find themselves replacing Darren Till at #15 in the 185lb rankings.
Edmen Shahbazyan UFC; How has his career in the octagon looked thus far?
Making his way into the UFC fresh from a great performance in Dana White's Contender Series, Edmen Shahbazyan was believed to be the next big thing at middleweight.
After a shaky debut earned him a split-decision victory over Darren Stewart, the 25-year-old showed the world just how impressive he can be as he scored three back-to-back finishes of Charles Byrd, Jack Marshman, and veteran Brad Tavares.
Forcing his way into his first main event on the back of four straight wins under the UFC banner, Shahbazyan came up against Derek Brunson, who used his experience to hand the Californian his first loss in the sport. Defeats against Jack Hermansson and Nassourdine Imavov followed before the youngster got back into the winners' circle after knocking out Dalcha Lungiambula last time out.