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This weekend will see the UFC returning to its APEX facility for UFC Vegas 27. The main card features a middleweight clash between Edmen Shahbazyan and Jack Hermansson.
Edmen Shahbazyan lost his undefeated record last year following a defeat to UFC veteran Derek Brunson, so can this prospect bounce back?
The answer is he almost certainly can, regardless of the result against Jack Hermansson this weekend.
Here are three reasons why Edmen Shahbazyan is still one of the hottest middleweight prospects in the UFC.
#1 Everyone has to lose at some point, particularly in the UFC
Whenever an undefeated prospect suffers their first loss, it seems customary for many UFC fans to write off the fighter's hopes of making it to the top.
That would be a lazy stance to take for a fighter of Edmen Shahbazyan's caliber.
Unlike boxing, the UFC doesn't allow its prospects to build themselves up slowly, even if they're highly marketable.
Young fighters are usually given lower-level opponents for their first few fights, but if they show any promise – particularly if it looks like they might catch on with the fans – they'll quickly be pushed up the ladder.
Some fans see that as throwing a young fighter to the wolves. In reality, though, fighting against a tenured and dangerous veteran like Derek Brunson will probably do far more for a young talent like Shahbazyan than three fights against non-elite opposition.
Shahbazyan suffered a pretty nasty knockout against Brunson, but there's no shame in that. Brunson is a fighter capable of taking out any middleweight in the UFC on his day. To Shahbazyan's credit, he did not look out of his depth in the fight.
The 'Golden Boy' will probably have learned from the errors that cost him his fight with Brunson, and should come back as a better fighter.
The bottom line? Everyone loses at some point in the UFC. Even greats like Georges St. Pierre and Charles Oliveira suffered losses early in their UFC careers.
One loss is no reason to write off Shahbazyan, who remains one of the best prospects in the UFC at middleweight.
#2 Edmen Shahbazyan is still only 23 years old
The UFC's middleweight division is relatively packed, but it's also worth noting that it's primarily filled with aging fighters.
Champion Israel Adesanya is probably still in his athletic prime at the age of 31, but outside of him, almost every other contender is on the wrong side of 30. The likes of Jared Cannonier, Uriah Hall and Jacare Souza are all over 35.
Even fighters that fans might consider younger prospects such as Paulo Costa and Phil Hawes have already turned 30.
That means that Edmen Shahbazyan, who is still only 23 years old, is one of the few real young talents in the UFC at 185 lbs.
The 'Golden Boy' is currently the youngest middleweight on the UFC roster, with only 25-year-old Brendan Allen coming close to him in that aspect.
If anything, the fighter to compare him to is new UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
'Do Bronx' debuted in the UFC in 2010 at the age of just 20, and while he took the long route to the top, his early UFC debut means that Oliveira remains in his athletic prime.
Does this mean that we'll see Edmen Shahbazyan holding the UFC middleweight title in the future? It's not out of the realm of possibility.
#3 Edmen Shahbazyan is still improving rapidly
Given his young age, it should come as no surprise that Edmen Shahbazyan is still improving as a fighter at a rapid rate.
The 'Golden Boy' debuted in the UFC in 2018 after putting together six wins on the regional circuit and a further victory on Dana White's Contender Series.
Fans were excited to see him enter the octagon as he'd knocked out all of his first seven opponents in the first round.
But his UFC debut didn't quite work out that way, as he took a decision victory over Darren Stewart, largely by spamming the Englishman with takedowns.
The wrestling-heavy performance probably didn't earn Shahbazyan many new fans, but it displayed new wrinkles in his game that hadn't been seen before.
Since then, Shahbazyan has continued to improve, showing a stronger submission game against Jack Marshman and then unleashing a technical striking game to take out Brad Tavares.
He even looked good early in the fight against Derek Brunson but succumbed to the veteran after tiring badly in the second round.
But that loss shouldn't write Shahbazyan off. Based on his improvements thus far, closing a hole in his cardio and becoming a more conditioned athlete shouldn't be all that tricky for the 'Golden Boy.'
At the age of 23, he should be able to continue to improve at a rapid clip. If he can maintain his trajectory, he will almost certainly become a serious UFC middleweight title contender in the future.
