The UFC Vegas 27 opener offered a talent-rich battle between two top-10 middleweights in Jack Hermansson versus Edmen Shahbazyan. Both men entered the Octagon following disappointing setbacks in their most recent outings. Both needed a victory to regain the moment they had lost and get back in contention for major matchups later in 2021.
Over the first couple of minutes, Shahbazyan worked behind a nice jab and landed several combos. It forced Hermansson backward and out of position for a takedown. “The Joker” was having issues dealing with the hand speed of his opponent and kept up a high guard to protect his face. Twice he shot for takedowns that were stuffed with ease by the tenth-ranked talent. Despite the high guard, “The Golden Boy” seemed to land almost at will and won the round rather easily over his seventh-ranked opponent.
Hermansson beats Shahbazyan in pivotal clash at middleweight
In the first minute of the second, Hermansson pushed hard with strikes to get close and get the clinch. Which he was able to do against the cage and get the takedown. Shahbazyan was able to defend and get things back to standing, but in defending another takedown he attempted an ineffective guillotine choke that left his opponent in the top position again. Late in the round, a sweep left Shahbazyan on top, where he landed some heavy strikes and made the round a tougher decision for the judgers.
In the third Hermansson scored a very important takedown a minute into the round. He controlled from their for the rest of the round. Racking up points with strong ground-and-pound from the half guard, and landing elbows with a minute left that seemed to hurt his opponent. It was a huge round for the Swede by way of Norway, and was one worthy of a 10-8 score.
The third was exactly what the doctor ordered as he did score a 10-8 in the third from all the judges, and the unanimous decision win. He bounces back from a difficult setback to Marvin Vettori on short-notice in December, and pushes his name forward for top-five consideration again.
For the 23-year-old Shahbazyan, he has the first losing streak of his young career after falling short in main event spot against Derek Brunson last August. The Los Angeles native again showed his gifts as a striker, but he still has much to do to improve his grappling for foes in the top-10 of the division.
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