Edmen Shahbazyan vs Dusko Todorovic added to UFC FN 240 on March 23
A pair of once highly touted prospects are set to meet inside the octagon this spring at UFC Fight Night 240.
UFC FN 240 is to go down on March 23, 2024, live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
The event is to be headlined by a flyweight bout between former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (11-6) and no. 8 ranked Amanda Ribas (13-4) and will also feature a middleweight affair between Edmen Shahbazyan (12-4) and Dusko Todorovic (12-4).
Each of these talents made their way into the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series, Shahbazyan picking up his seventh-straight first round knockout that improved him to 7-0 as a professional, and Todorovic picking up the first decision victory of his career, albeit an impressive one, which climb him to 9-0.
Following a hard-fought split decision win over Darren Stewart in his promotional debut Shahbazyan would rattle off three more first round finishes with stoppages over the likes of Charles Byrd (TKO), Jack Marshman (rear naked choke), and Brad Tavares (KO).
By the time Shahbazyan beat Tavares, Israel Adesanya had over a year prior as well, and it took him five rounds and the judges scorecards for Adesanya to beat him, who’d already won the UFC middleweight championship by this point.
Needless to say, things were looking very bright for this young prodigy that seemed to have it all.
Shahbazyan’s next fight would come against longtime top 10 middleweight staple Derek Brunson. Shahbazyan was absolutely smashing Brunson early on with his striking, but eventually got tired, didn’t secure the finish, and was about to get stopped himself toward the end of round two.
The referee didn’t stop the fight however, which he probably should have, and Shahbazyan went back out there for round three only to be TKO’d 26 seconds in, and he really hasn’t been the same fighter since.
Shahbazyan’s next fight would come against another longtime ranked contender in Jack Hermansson. Again, Shahbazyan looked great in the early goings of the bout, but would again tire and take a severe beating as the time went on, ultimately losing the universal 29-27 unanimous decision.
Another defeat would soon follow when Shahbazyan fought current no. 11 ranked Nassourdine Imavov, who would TKO him at 4:42 of round two.
Shahbazyan took 13 months off before returning to the octagon, where he picked up his first win in just over three years against Dalcha Lungiambula, stopping him via TKO at 4:41 of round two. It looked like Shahbazyan had righted his wrongs from before, picking up a stoppage win at the same time his body quit on him in his last three-straight fights.
However, he’d face Anthony Hernandez next, who is an absolutely relentless talent that was able to break him and ultimately stop him via TKO at 1:01 of round three.
Dusko Todorovic on the other hand, a former SBC middleweight champion who won that belt against Michel Pereira, won his UFC debut against Dequan Townsend via TKO at 3:15 of round two.
This was also a very impressive performance that left everyone watching excited about his future.
Todorovic would run into problems in his next two fights however, dropping back-to-back defeats to Puna Soriano (TKO) and Gregory Rodrigues (UD). Todorovic would rebound with a first round TKO win over Maki Pitolo, before being viciously KO’d by Chidi Njokuani in his next outing.
Serbia’s Todorovic has gone 1-1 since then, finishing Jordan Wright (TKO), and being finished (TKO) in his latest appearance against Chris Duncan, a fight he injured his knee in.
Luckily for these two, Shahbazyan is still only 26 years of age, and Todorovic is 29.
Who wins this middleweight bout going down at UFC FN 240?
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