From Ronda Rousey’s throwing partner to UFC headliner, Edmen Shahbazyan has come a long way

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Edmen Shahbazyan main events UFC Fight Night 173 but he was also a training partner for Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey might not be fighting in the UFC anymore but she had a rising star as a training partner in Edmen Shahbazyan.

The 22-year-old is one of the rising stars in the UFC and currently fights in the Middleweight division. The American also holds an unbeaten record in MMA with 11 wins on the spin. Shahbazyan has won all of his UFC fights so far and will headline UFC Fight Night 173.

Edmen Shahbazyan will fight in the next UFC event
Edmen Shahbazyan of the United States celebrates victory against Brad Tavares of the United States during UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden on November 02, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)

He goes up against Derek Brunson in the main event, and that should be an incredible clash.

However, the 22-year-old has been in the UFC circles for a long time. A video resurfaced recently of him training with Rousey, and she was taking him to town.

Thrown around like a sack of potatoes

The videos shared by the UFC showed a 15-year-old Shahbazyan being thrown around by Rousey. Rousey, of course, was the bigger star then and is possibly one of the greatest MMA stars of all-time.

Like most UFC stars, Rousey had several training partners and Shahbazyan was one of them.

She was throwing the youngster around like a sack of potatoes, and to his credit, Shahbazyan kept coming back.

However, Rousey has retired from the MMA world and even from WWE. It will be interesting to see how Shahbazyan keeps on going in the UFC.

Derek Brunson is in action on the next UFC event
Derek Brunson celebrates his firt-round TKO victory over Ed Herman after a middleweight bout during UFC 183 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 31, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

He is one of a handful of stars with unbeaten records and he is just 22. The youngster is also managed by Rousey’s One Fight Management group, so it is suffice to say he must have picked something up from Rowdy.

Shahbazyan isn’t in the picture for a title shot yet, but that could change if he keeps on winning. The 22-year-old last defeated Brad Tavares but Brunson could be his toughest UFC test till date.

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