Once touted as one of MMA’s top young prospects, Edmen Shahbazyan suddenly found himself at a personal and professional crossroads.
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The Glendale native, who once toiled and trained as a teenager under the strikes, throws and submissions of UFC icon Ronda Rousey, certainly had the makings of the next big thing. Then it all began to crumble.
In search of a restart and greater opportunity, Shahbazyan knew he needed a change. It wasn’t exactly, “Go west, young man.” More like northeast.
Nearly five years after leaving for Las Vegas, Shahbazyan is back home as he prepares to fight middleweight Bruno Ferreira in the UFC 331 prelims Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
“It’s good to be back in L.A., fighting in my hometown, where my friends and family are,” Shahbazyan, 28, said in an exclusive interview Monday. “So it’s gonna be a good one.”
The UFC returns to downtown Los Angeles for the first time since 2018. It has since held cards at Honda Center in Anaheim and the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
Once Shahbazyan (16-6) heard about UFC 311 and where it was – calling Crypto.com Arena “the OG Staples Center” – he was sold.
“I’ve watched the Lakers in the Staples Center. I’ve watched UFC there,” he said. “It’s historical. It’s a different vibe to it, and that’s one spot I definitely wanted. A bucket list of mine. So once I found out it’s there, I said yes.”
Ferreira (15-4) poses a stiff test as the Brazilian known as “The Hulk” comes to town to take on “The Golden Boy.” In less than three years, Ferreira, 33, has gone 6-4 in the UFC, with finishes in five of those victories. He is 0-2 this year though, coming off a TKO loss to Gregory Rodrigues in March and a unanimous-decision defeat to Ikram Aliskerov in June.
Shahbazyan and his team have done their homework and know what needs to be done.
“I’d say he’s a wild, explosive fighter. He comes in swinging. He’s tough and he comes for a fight. So I expect that from him,” Shahbazyan said. “But I think my skills are a lot higher than his, and I think staying disciplined on a guy like him, sharp on my defense and stuff down the middle is what will put him away.”
Shabazyan hasn’t fought on home turf since his sixth pro fight – a 30-second TKO victory over Daniel McWilliams in April 2018 at California Xtreme Fighting 12 in Burbank. That was part of his 11-0 start – which included a dazzling 4-0 run in his first year in the UFC – that helped him create a significant buzz in the 185-pound weight class.
The buzz didn’t last long.
MAKING A MOVE
Coming off a devastating head-kick knockout of respected veteran Brad Tavares in November 2019, Shahbazyan found himself ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s 2020 list of the top MMA fighters younger than 25. He was only 22, still training at Glendale Fighting Club with Edmond Tarverdyan and living at home.
In August 2020, he found himself paired against veteran middleweight Derek Brunson, who had as many victories in the UFC as Shahbazyan had fights. Brunson patiently wore Shahbazyan down before handing him his first loss via third-round TKO.
Then came another respected veteran in Jack Hermansson, who exploited Shahbazyan’s shaky takedown defense and busted him open en route to a unanimous decision in May 2021. Shahbazyan’s team subsequently ordered him to go north to work on his wrestling with former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier and his team in San Jose.
About five months later, devastating striker Nassourdine Imavov was next. He pummeled and bloodied Shahbazyan for nearly two rounds before getting the TKO win.
Something had to give. Shahbazyan pulled up stakes, he and his girlfriend Kristina leaving behind everything they knew and moving to Las Vegas.
“It was tough for me to leave, but I have to do it for myself and my career,” Shahbazyan said. “Not everybody’s going to be happy with the situation, but I have to look out for myself and my family at the end of the day.”
That family has become his wife Kristina, their 18-month-old son Robert and a daughter on the way. They just bought a second home in Las Vegas and, outside of the oppressive summers, enjoy the slower pace compared with Los Angeles.
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The personal and professional reboot, which has brought forth responsibility and maturity, has been invaluable.
“I think it changed our whole lives for the better. I know he couldn’t have gone as far as he is now in his career without us moving,” said Kristina Shabazyan, who works as a nurse practitioner and is 22 weeks pregnant. “Looking back now, at the time we didn’t know what would come of it, but now looking back, it was definitely a mandatory move that he had to make.”
COMING BACK
The Shahbazyans, who say they make the trek home every one to two months, arrived last week ahead of the fight and set up in the Burbank home of Kristina’s parents.
The support of their families means everything. Friends have been a constant presence.
“Our family is amazing. His family and our family, they’re just the best. They help with taking care of our kid, taking care of us,” Kristina said. “In Vegas, we’re kind of alone there, so really nice being back home and Edmen sees his friends. Just a lot of support.
“Even like the Armenian community, we went out on a walk last night and a random car just like stopped by and they’re like, ‘Good luck, Edmen!’”
In Las Vegas, Shahbazyan found a new home at Xtreme Couture, which boasts a deep roster of fighters, whereas in Glendale his options were fairly limited.
“It’s been really good. I get a lot of different training partners, good coaching there, and just I feel like I’m away from family and friends, which helps me focus better when I’m in camp,” he said.
Shahbazyan also takes advantage of the 30,000-square-foot UFC Performance Institute, which allows fighters free access to training facilities, nutrition, trainers, masseuses, therapists and more.
The coaching comes via Eric Nicksick, who has helped oversee the championship reigns of middleweight Sean Strickland, heavyweight Francis Ngannou and bantamweight Aljamain Sterling.
“He’s a great coach. I think he really knows how to communicate with his fighters well,” Shahbazyan said. “He knows how to, like, in between rounds, how to get you going, you know, and read you and read the opponent and the situation. He has good situational awareness.”
The cage time often comes against Strickland, the UFC’s current middleweight champion for the second time. The former Anaheim native and Temecula resident was in Shahbazyan’s corner for his last fight – a unanimous-decision loss to title contender Brendan Allen in June that snapped his three-fight winning streak.
Shahbazyan is quick to separate Strickland’s controversial online persona from the fighter and friend he’s come to know the past four-plus years. Training with a champ of Strickland’s experience, skill and fight IQ has been priceless.
“He’s a good person as far as being a leader. He’s a good leader for everybody in the gym,” he said. “Strickland is a good person outside of what the media sees and all that on social media. He’s a good person at heart. And yeah, we push each other every day to level each other up. And he’s a guy that believes in me. I believe in him.”
On Saturday, Shahbazyan will have Nicksick, jiu-jitsu coach Jason Manly and his brother, Leon Shahbazyan, in his corner. He’s excited for his many friends to be in attendance as well as the anticipated support from his Armenian brethren and SoCal fans.
The walkout will be like any other, complete with nerves and excitement. And in the Octagon, he plans to remain disciplined and sharp defensively while picking Ferreira apart.
“I see myself with my hand raised, and I think I’m a finisher in there. You know, I always come for a finish, so I do expect a finish,” Shahbazyan said. “But more than that, I expect my hand getting raised, that’s for sure. I’m going in there to give it my all and perform in front of my hometown. They’re not beating me here.”
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