More than a win, Shahbazyan needed a reset. Upon recommendation from his manager, Shahbazyan found it in Las Vegas. After a two-week “trial period,” Shahbazyan left his hometown of Glendale, California, as well as his longtime training home of Glendale Fight Club for the Fight Capital.
He acknowledged the somewhat claustrophobic environment he was in the last few years in Glendale. Friends, family and a strong Armenian community in the city made it difficult for Shahbazyan to do so much as pick up some coffee without getting stopped for a conversation. People were so invested in his career that Shahbazyan joked about people giving him grief any time he’d grab some food that wasn’t exactly diet-friendly.
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For the first time in his life, he was on his own, and in the desert, he created a new home for himself at the UFC Performance Institute and Xtreme Couture.
“I really needed some time to zone out and focus on myself,” he said. “That’s why I made all these changes. I felt like it was much needed, and 13 months off is enough time. I worked on myself, trained hard, improved, and those losses are all learning lessons for me.”