Edmen Shahbazyan Loses to Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 118

Armenian UFC fighter Edmen Shahbazyan suffered a defeat at UFC Vegas 118. In a middleweight bout, he lost to Brendan Allen by unanimous decision — 27-30, 27-30, 28-29.

The fight went the full three rounds and took place almost entirely on the feet. Allen was slightly faster, more accurate and more consistent, confirming his status as a top-5 fighter in the UFC middleweight rankings. Shahbazyan tried to respond and had his moments at times, but his opponent was slightly better in most exchanges.

According to the statistics, the fighters landed almost the same number of significant strikes — 88 to 84 in Allen’s favor. The American’s advantage was minimal, but noticeable enough for the judges. The closest round was the second one: one of the judges scored it for Shahbazyan.

For Edmen, this defeat was especially painful, as it ended his three-fight winning streak. Before the bout with Allen, the Armenian middleweight had regained momentum and received a chance to move much closer to the top of the UFC rankings, but he was unable to overcome a top-5 opponent.

After the victory, Brendan Allen said he wants to fight UFC champion Sean Strickland.

“I want to face Sean Strickland. I beat his guy, now it’s his turn,” Allen said after the fight, referring to Shahbazyan, who trains alongside Sean.