After originally being scheduled for UFC 248 on March 7th, Edmen Shahbazyan’s bout with Derek Brunson was moved back a month to UFC’s Portland based card. The fight will now serve as the co-headliner to its new card. Despite the elevated status as far as card placement goes, Shahbazyan says he did all he could to try to stay on UFC 248. 

“We asked to see who there was and they listed a couple of people. We said yes to them, but they didn’t agree. We definitely wanted to stay on the card,” Shahbazyan shared. “I thought it was a pretty cool card - in Vegas, middleweight title on the line, middleweight contenders. I thought that would play out well, but it is what it is.”

Shahbazyan confirmed that each of the options that were offered to him were either top 5 or top 10 names in the middleweight division. With none of them wanting to fight him, the only other option would be a rescheduling with Brunson for a later date. 

This, of course, begs the question - what caused Brunson to step out of the fight, but still be able to throw down a month later. While he is aware of the reason, Shahbazyan feels it is not his place to share it. 

“Something regarding his side. I don’t want to say publicly - I’ll let him answer that,” he said. “But it’s something regarding his side forced the fight to be rescheduled.”

Although he would have liked the earlier fight, bigger card, and possibly higher ranked opponent, Shahbazyan is taking the entire ordeal in stride. Not only will this give him more time to hone his skills, but a win over Brunson still puts him in a great position for that big fight down the road. 

“It’s all good. I’m going to be in even crazier shape [for this fight],” he said. “I’m definitely not overlooking Brunson, but a win over him puts me in a great position in the division with everything that's going on right now. A top 5 guy next, I think, would be the right matchup.”

And that bout could bring him one step closer to his ultimate goal.

“I want to be the youngest champion, so whatever it takes to get there,” Shahbazyan said confidently.