Edmen Shahbazyan is set to fight Dalcha Lungiambula in the prelims of UFC 282, this weekend. Shahbazyan (11-3) fight for the first time in over a year and is coming off three back-to-back losses. ‘The Golden Boy’ had a pretty good win run until Derek Brunson stopped him in a main event fight and ever since then, he has failed to pick up a win.
His opponent, Lungiambula (11-5) is also coming off back-to-back losses and hopes to end his winning streak this weekend. ‘Champion’ is 1-4 in his last five fights and will need to take drastic measures to beat Shahbazyan. His last win came against Markus Perez which went the distance.
Shahbazyan vs Lungiambula Stats
| Edmen Shahbazyan | Dalcha Lungiambula | |
| 6’2” | HEIGHT | 5’8″ |
| 185 lbs | WEIGHT | 185 lbs |
| 74″ | REACH | 76″ |
| 11-3 | RECORD | 11-5 |
| 25 | AGE | 35 |
Fight Breakdown
Edmen Shahbazyan is a very dynamic striker his last win came when he finished Brad Tavares with a spectacular head kick knockout. His striking is technical and has good cardio. He lost his last fights to some dangerous opponents and hopefully, he has improved the holes in his game.
Shahbazyan can secure an early win as has the skills to finish a fight. He is equipped with dangerous powerful shots and hopefully, he’ll utilize them in his upcoming fight. He will enjoy a significant size advantage and use his long-range weapons to keep his opponent at bay.
On the other hand, Dalcha Lungiambula started his UFC career 2-1 and is on a three-fight skid. Lungiambula is a well-rounded fighter but does not know how to use his natural power in a fight. He was knocked out by Punahele Soriano in his last fight and submitted by Cody Brundage before that.
Lungiambula has solid ground skills but does not implement his grappling in a fight instead he goes all out throwing big wild shots, hoping to knock out his opponents. Lungiambula’s striking is also good but he just can’t manage to use all his weapons in a fight.
Who leaves the cage victorious?
Going into this fight, Shahbazyan will have a significant height advantage but also loses two inches to Lungiambula in the reach department. Shahbazyan has all the tools to win this bout but Lungiambula is not to be underestimated.
Shahbazyan needs to get past his opponent’s wild kill swings and use his slick counter shots to take out Lungiambula. The former is also versatile on his feet. However, Lungiambula is strong on the ground and often uses his takedowns and ground games.
However, I believe Lungiambula’s takedowns will have little effect in this fight as Shahbazyan can put his light out in the opening rounds.
