UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Rodrigues is in the books; the card ended with four KO/TKOs, the best of which was scored in a flash by the promotion’s ‘Golden Boy’.
Edmen Shahbazyan scored a first-round KO last night at UFC Vegas 102; demolishing Dylan ‘The Mindless Hulk’ Budka with just 95 seconds on the clock via a brutal right hook to ground-and-pound.
The impressive victory sees ‘Golden Boy’ return to the winner’s circle in a big way and after such a stellar start to 2025, Shahbazyan is keen to remain as active as possible for the remainder of the year.
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Edmen Shahbazyan targets rematch with UFC record-holder ‘GM3’
Edmen Shahbazyan not only left The Apex last night with another fantastic KO win under his belt but an extra $50,000 in his bank account thanks to a well-deserved ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
Shahbazyan blitzed Budka in under two minutes and given the fact that he’d barely sustained any damage, eating only one significant strike, confirmed that he’s looking to fight three or four more times in 2025.
“I want to get three-to-four wins this year, get on a winning streak and keep improving,” he told the UFC News crew, later revealing at the post-fight presser who he’d like his next fight to be against.
“Probably [return in] like June, I want to get three to four fights in this year, and I would love to – if it happens – I would love to run my last loss back.”
His last loss in the UFC came in August 2024 at the hands of Gerald ‘GM3’ Meerschaert, who managed to survive an early onslaught from Shahbazyan before locking up an arm-triangle choke in the second round.
That finish over Shahbazyan saw ‘GM3’ break the record for most finishes in middleweight history, overtaking legendary former champion Anderson Silva with 12 stoppage wins at 185lbs.
“I feel like I rushed in that fight and made a mistake after hurting him,” noted Ronda Rousey’s former training partner, adding “I hope that fight happens and hopefully in June.”
Shahbazyan brothers go 2-0 with two first-round finishes in two days
It was a fantastic weekend for the Shahbazyan household; not only did Edmen land a first-round knockout at UFC Vegas 102, but brother Leon also secured a first-round finish in the main event of Tuff-N-Uff 141 on Friday evening.
“It was awesome man, my brother got a win last night – he started the weekend off great and then I got the first-round finish too, that’s incredible,” hailed the UFC star sibling.
“Having your brother fight on the same weekend, like I didn’t watch him fight – I waited for my friend and coach to text me what happened, and after that I went and subscribed to Fight Pass to watch it.
“It’s nerve-wracking when you have a sibling fighting and yeah, he did great. I’m so happy for him and we’re going to celebrate together this weekend.”
The younger Shahbazyan brother noted that “after he wins, it’s like a relief,” as now he could fully focus on his own bout: “Like ‘Okay, now imma do my thing now’, it’s not like any type of pressure, I’m confident in myself that I can go out there and perform.”
Edmen Shahbazyan is now 14-5 as a professional MMA fighter and 7-5 under the UFC banner.