NEW YORK – Edmen Shahbazyan beat Brad Tavares with a first-round knockout Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Take a look inside the fight with Shahbazyan, who stayed unbeaten and capped off his 2019 calendar year with a third straight first-round knockout.
Result: Edmen Shahbazyan def. Brad Tavares via knockout (punches – Round 1, 2:27
Updated records: Shahbazyan (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), Tavares (17-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC)
Key stat: Shahbazyan picked up his ninth career knockout and 10th finish in 11 pro wins.
Shahbazyan on the fight’s key moment
“I believe I showed a part of my game that people didn’t know. I have striking, so I wanted to showcase this in the fight. ”
Shahbazyan on the opportunity to fight Tavares
“Definitely on paper, Brad was the biggest test of my career. But I’m the new breed of MMA. I’m coming for that belt, man. I want to be the youngest champion ever. It’s all about me staying in the gym and continuing to grow and evolve as a fighter. I never take time off from the gym, even after a fight, I’ll take a week off and then I’m back constantly growing and improving.”
Shahbazyan on what he wants next
“I believe this puts me in the top 10 of the division, or at least fighting those guys. I like fighting every three to four months and staying active, so something early next year sounds perfect. We’ll see what happens.”
To hear more from Shahbazyan, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
