When your home gym is the Glendale Fighting Club and you’re represented by UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey, you’re bound to garner attention. Add in an unblemished record littered with early stoppages and you’re bound to get some skeptics too.
Edmen Shahbazyan arrived on Dana White’s Contender Series last summer as a 20-year-old upstart brandishing a 6-0 record built on a series of victories in fights that never went more than four minutes. He then swiftly dispatched Antonio Jones and earned a UFC contract, putting the middleweight prospect square in the crosshairs of all those ready to pick apart the new kid backed by familiar faces being hustled to the big leagues.