Point of interest: Winning the wrestling
Considering the on-paper grappling and experience edge, I will be curious to see if Brunson looks to test his fresh-faced foe early with takedown threats.
Shahbazyan, who actually wrestled and placed well in high school, will offer a ton of hurdles en route to Brunson securing either his hips or legs.
From the size of Shahbazyan’s back to the short samples of savvy seen from him inside the clinch, the Armenian fighter appears to offer a lot in the form of quick knees and clever punches in and out of the breaks. And in the couple of instances where fighters have attempted to get in on Shahbazyan’s hips for takedowns, the 22-year-old talent was able to immediately compromise their grips and make them pay with strikes (or with a submission, if we’re counting his amateur record).
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Still, I suspect we’ll see Shahbazyan tested in these spaces given the smaller cage at hand.
Despite having a lower takedown percentage than one might expect, Brunson does a deceptively good job of using his initial shot to force his opponents to the fence, chaining off his attacks from there. Whether he is hitting reactionary double-legs or snatching up singles, the former All-American wrestler wields a serviceable and diverse takedown game that will hopefully give us a lot of good looks at Shahbazyan’s defensive instincts.
Brunson may not have a “game over” type of ground game, but the Brazillian jiu-jitsu brown belt can transition well with strikes from topside and plays positions when he needs to. However, with grappling being another one of Shahbazyan’s base skills, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see the younger man force Brunson to hustle if he means to hold him down.
Next point of interest: Odds, opinion and prediction