No. 8 middleweight Derek Brunson (20-7, 11 KOs, 3 SUBs) will meet undefeated uber-prospect Edmen Shahbazyan (11-0, 9 KOs, 1 SUB) at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan this Saturday, August 1, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The matchup serves as the main event on a card that also features a welterweight banger between Vicente Luque (18-7-1) and Randy Brown (12-3) also guarantees fireworks. The main card airs live on ESPN starting 9 pm ET.
The MMA community is very, very excited to see how Shahbazyan performs against a high-level gatekeeper in Brunson. Let’s dig into the stats and the betting odds at our UFC online sportsbook.
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Derek Brunson (20-7, 11 KOs, 3 SUBs)
Brunson has been a guy that’s gotten close to the title picture, but he never could get over the hump. But you don’t stick around the top 15 or get the types of fights he’s gotten without being a very good fighter. Over an eight-year UFC career, Brunson has stepped into the octagon with the likes of Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Jacare Souza and Israel Adesanya. The catch: he lost to all of those dudes, with the exception of Machida. Now 36 years old, Brunson’s window to become a title contender is closed, but he is still one of the division’s best gatekeepers - and he comes into the matchup with two straight wins.
The physical talent and the skills have never been a problem for Brunson. An excellent athlete, Brunson came over from Strikeforce as a stifling wrestler - a great base to build from. But then he got thirsty for knockouts, which saw him inexplicably turn into a brawler that somehow notched four straight first-round knockouts. He was quickly exposed by Robert Whittaker, then failed to do much in a listless bout against Anderon Silva. As he’s gotten older and wiser, Brunson has found a nice middle lane, wrestling when he needs to or settling in to explode with counter punches. Did we mention that he’s got killshot power?
Despite his experience, Brunson is facing an uphill battle against a monster prospect. The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu opened with Brunson as a 2-1 underdog.
Edmen Shahbazyan (11-0, 9 KOs, 1 SUB)
Shahbazyan is the most exciting middleweight prospect since Israel Adesanya - fans and analysts can’t help but gush over him. That wasn’t the case not too long ago, where some were grumbling that his record of quick finishes was built against fighters with losing records, and he had an easy road to the octagon because Ronda Rousey was his manager. The critics had further ammunition when Shahbazyan only managed a split decision win over Darren Stewart in his UFC debut.
Since then, Shahbazyan has been a monster. He needed just 38 seconds to knock out Charles Byrd, then just about a minute to submit a good veteran in Jack Marshman. It was the fight with Brad Tavares that really opened a lot of eyes. Tavares is a fringe top 15 guy with trademark Hawaiian toughness, and Shahbazyan floored him in less than three minutes.
The 22-year old has been training at the Glendale Fighting Club since his childhood, coached by Edmond Tarverdyan. This is a case where a kid has special physical talent, and has grown up training MMA. Maybe Tarverdyan can strike gold twice.
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Brunson 3.39 / Shahbazyan 4.11
Striking accuracy: Brunson 45% / Shahbazyan 52%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Brunson 2.91 / Shahbazyan 2.16
Striking defense: Brunson 54% / Shahbazyan 62%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Brunson 2.80 / Shahbazyan 6.77
Takedown accuracy: Brunson 29% / Shahbazyan 40%
Takedown defense: Brunson 100% / Shahbazyan 75%
Submission average: Brunson 0.5 / Shahbazyan 0.8
UFC Picks
Honestly, we really like Brunson as a +200 underdog here. He will have to be extremely careful to survive Shahbazyan’s early onslaught, but if he can settle into the fight his counterpunching and wrestling makes for a good foil against such a young pro like Shahbazyan. At this price, we’re willing to make a small bet on the vet.
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan Card & Odds
Middleweight - Derek Brunson +262 vs. Edmen Shahbazyan -330
Middleweight - Eric Spicely +162 vs. Markus Perez -196
Welterweight - Randy Brown +154 vs. Vicente Luque -186
Bantamweight - Frankie Saenz +203 vs. Jonathan Martinez -250
Bantamweight - Nathan Maness +186 vs. Ray Borg -228
Women’s flyweight - Jennifer Maia +136 vs. Joanne Calderwood -165
Middleweight - Teving Giles +172 vs. Kevin Holland -208
Lightweight - Bobby Green +120 vs. Lando Vannata -144
Midddleweight - Ed Herman +150 vs. Gerald Meerschaert -181
Featherweight - Jamall Emmers +134 vs. Timur Valiev -162
Bantamweight - Cody Durden +263 vs. Chris Gutierrez -332
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