Edmen Shahbazyan suffered his first professional loss last night at the hands of dangerous contender, Derek Brunson. The 22-year-old was TKO'd in the third round, after taking some huge shots late in the second. After re-watching the fight, I'd like to detail some key points that the young middleweight SHOULD take away from his only loss.
Firstly, there seemed to be some issues with Edmen's cardio. After the opening round, "The Golden Boy" appeared to fade slightly, and his usually devastating strikes were not having their usual effect. There are a number of possibilities as to why this happened, but personally I think that he had a huge adrenaline-dump after facing adversity for seemingly the first time in his career. This is not in any way slating the middleweight prospect, as losing is learning and this experience will only further him as a fighter.
Whilst he did land some big shots in this fight, I felt that his confidence may have withered when Brunson was able to take some of his best and hardest strikes. Shahbazyan looked comfortable in the first round, picking his openings and landing some good body kicks. However, it wasn't the sort of performance we've come to expect throughout his career.
There is also the case that he may have believed his own hype. After only going past the first round once in his career, and many dubbing him a future star and UFC champion, this may have contributed to him underestimating Derek Brunson. Being in a UFC main-event at the age of 22 is a massive achievement and one that can be taxing on the mind of a young fighter.
Now, a little disclaimer before I make this point. By no means am I slating the coaching ability of Edmond Tarverdyan, although you have to look at the facts. We have seen it before where he has also got far too invested in the hype of a fighter - namely Ronda Rousey - and this has become their undoing. In no way am I comparing Shahbazyan to Ronda, however you cannot ignore that it may become a factor.
So the question is, is Edmen Shahbazyan going to live up to his sky-high potential? I guess time will only tell. He needs to reassess and work on becoming the best he can be. The future is exciting for the California native, and hopefully he can develop his skills and have a great and successful career.
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