The best and worst from UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos

#3 Best: Shahbazyan has a bright future ahead of him

Could Edmen Shahbazyan be a future UFC title contender?

Perhaps the most noteworthy performance on the prelims – no offense to Song Yadong who also looked fantastic in KO’ing Alejandro Perez – came from young prospect Edmen Shahbazyan. The Armenian-American fighter – who trains out of the Glendale Fight Academy under the notorious Edmond Tarverdyan – won his spot on the UFC roster with a violent knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series, but the 40 second victory also posed a lot of questions.

Shahbazyan was notably wild and overly aggressive with his striking, and so many fans questioned how well he’d do in the UFC proper. But while he didn’t strike a lot in last night’s victory over Jack Marshman, he did show that he’s more talented – and far more cerebral – than fighters coming out of his camp are usually given credit for.

Faced with the heavy-handed Welsh brawler, it would’ve been easy for Shahbazyan – a man with 8 first round KO’s on his record - to simply trade bombs with him and show his machismo. But instead he used his powerful wrestling game to ground the Welshman and quickly secured a rear naked choke after dominating him with strikes on the mat.

Shahbazyan undoubtedly needs to clean up his striking technique but this win showed that he’s far more than a one-dimensional berserker who simply wants to trade bombs, and at 21 he’s got plenty of time and room for improvement. This kid could be a future title contender, despite the reputation of his coaches.