Jack Hermansson Out-Wrestles Edmen Shahbazyan To UD Victory At UFC Vegas 27
Jack Hermansson remains atop the UFC’s middleweight division, and Edmen Shahbazyan has a little more work to do..
The UFC returns to the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 27 tonight, May 22, 2021.
Both the co-main and main events tonight showcase No. 3 & No. 4 contenders, with a former champion in each bout.
Headlining the event is an incredible bantamweight clash between top contenders Rob Font (No. 3) and former champion Cody Garbrandt (No. 4). We’ve all been anticipating this fight since it was booked.
Garbrandt defeated the greatest bantamweight to ever do it, Dominick Cruz, back at UFC 207 to claim the UFC bantamweight championship. This improved his record to just 11-0. However, he’d lose the title to TJ Dillashaw in his very next bout, before losing to him again in a rematch. He then lost to Pedro Munhoz, falling from 11-0 to 11-3.
All three of those defeats came via knockout, making him winless for nearly four years, up until he fought Raphael Assuncao in June of last year, securing a Knockout of the Year candidate at the end of round two.
Font, like Garbrandt, is a great striker, primarily with his punches. They both have good kicks to go along with it, but both of them have incredibly dangerous hands. The Massachusetts native has won his last three-straight over the likes of Sergio Pettis (UD), Ricky Simon (UD), and Marlon Moraes (KO).
Font also has some other great wins, but those are of course his most recent. Not too bad aye? A Bellator world champion, a former two-time LFA champion, and a former six-time WSOF champion.
Co-headlining the event is a bout coming in the women’s strawweight division, as No. 3 ranked Yan Xiaonan takes on former champion, No. 4 ranked Carla Esparza. If Xiaonan wins this fight, she’ll climb to 7-0 inside the octagon, and it’ll be her fourth victory over a top ten opponent.
If Esparza wins, it’ll be her fifth-straight, extending her longest win streak inside the octagon by three.
Opening up the main card tonight came a bout contested in the middleweight division between No. 7 ranked Jack Hermansson and No. 10 ranked Edmen Shahbazyan. Both men came in coming off defeats in fights most of us believed they’d win.
Now they get the chance to get back in the winners circle opposing one another tonight.
Continue reading to see how this epic middleweight bout went down:
Official Result: Jack Hermansson def. Edmen Shahbazyan via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Round 1
It appears Shahbazyan has really worked on the weakness of his last fight, and that’s his endurance. He’s taking his time picking Hermansson apart and controlling the center of the octagon.
Shahbazyan’s straight punches are looking great, especially his jab, and he’s following some of his strikes up with overhands. Hermansson shoots in on a couple takedown attempts but doesn’t come close to securing either of them, Shahbazyan’s on point tonight.
Round 2
Hermansson comes out with a sense of urgency to start round two and secures a double leg takedown just 30 seconds in. Shahbazyan is up about a minute later, before Hermansson shoots in on another shot.
Shahbazyan locks up a guillotine choke, but ends up on his back again. The choke was very tight, but Hermansson passed Shahbazyan’s guard and was no longer in danger.
Hermansson attempts to take Shahbazyan’s back, but slips off the top and gets reversed with about 80 seconds left in the round, where Shahbazyan held him on his back until the end of it.
Round 3
Shahbazyan lands a nice right uppercut to start round three, before Hermansson closes the distance and ties up with him again. He does a good job of stuffing the initial shot, but ended up being dragged down nonetheless.
Hermansson passes to Shahbazyan’s half guard and reigns down some punches, showing who the superior grappler of the two is. This is what we came to expect: if it stays on the feet, Shahbazyan probably wins, and if it hits the mat, Hermansson has a sizable advantage.
The 23 year old prodigy suffers his second-straight defeat tonight, falling to 11-2 after opening his career up at 11-0.
Official Decision: Jack Hermansson def. Edmen Shahbazyan via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
