UFC middleweight prospect Edmen Shahbazyan suffered the first loss of his young career last night. The Glendale Fighting Club member was TKO’d by Derek Brunson early in the third round of his main event fight at UFC Vegas 5.
Shahbazayan, who came into the bout with an 11-0 record, was soundly beaten by Brunson in the fight. During the contest the Armenian-American sustained more punishment than any other time in his MMA career and was seemingly knocked unconscious in the second round before being finished in the third.
After the loss Shahbayzan took to social media to let everyone know that he is feeling fine.
“I’m ok everyone just need some stitches,” he wrote. “Thank you for all your messages, love you all! Congrats to [Derek Brunson] tonight he did a great job. No excuses, it’s the fight game and I’ll be back! Blessed to have the support I have from everyone!”
Heading into last night’s contest Vegas had Shahbayzan heavily favoured to beat Brunson (by a finish, no less).
The 22-year-old had been impressive in his UFC career thus far. He first appeared in an Octagon at Dana White’s Contender Series 13 in 2018, beating Antonio Jones by TKO. He then appeared on the TUF: Heavy Hitters finale, where he took a split decision over Darren Stewart.
Shahbayzan followed that win up with three stoppages in a row. At UFC 235 he finished Charles Byrd by TKO, at UFC 239 he submitted Jack Marshman with an RNC, and at UFC 244 last November he KO’d Brad Tavares with a headkick.
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