Jack Hermansson – Edmen Shahbazyan. Forecast and announcement for the fight

UFC Fight Night 188 Tournament Match

The fight will take place on the night of Saturday to Sunday, May 23, in Las Vegas. The fight will be shown live on the Setanta Sports channel. Estimated start of the battle – 03:00 Kyiv time.

The main card of UFC Fight Night 188 will feature a postponed middleweight bout between two of the top 10 fighters: #7 Jack Hermansson and #10 Edmen Shahbazyan.

The fight was originally scheduled as part of UFC 262, which took place last week. The bout was postponed due to COVID-19 illness of one of Hermansson’s team members.

Hermansson (21-6) has lost two of his last three fights. After being beaten to a stoppage by Jared Cannonier in September 2019, Hermansson won a quick submission from Kelvin Gastelam in July to lose undisputedly in five rounds to Marvin Vettori in December.

Shahbazyan (11-1) is also in dire need of a win as he comes back from the only loss of his career. In August 2020, he was knocked out on the ground by Derek Brunson in the third round. Considered a top prospect, Shahbazyan had previously won all four fights in the UFC, two by knockout and one by submission.

Prediction for the fight

If Hermansson is a wrestler, then Shahbazyan is a puncher. At the same time, Hermansson can stand up for himself in the standing position and knock out the opponent, while Shahbazyan defends well against takedowns and has an idea about working on the ground.

Hermansson is physically stronger and, in addition to the stalls, will pose a danger to Shahbazyan in clinches. If Edmen fails to keep the fight at a distance, then Hermansson will take his close, beating the opponent in clinches or transferring him to the ground. The constant danger of takedowns from the Swede may allow Jack to be more effective in the stand. We believe that he can knock out Shahbazyan cleanly or finish ground-and-pound, having previously beaten him on the ground.

Hermansson wins by knockout in the 3rd round

Main card

Rob Font – Cody Garbrandt
Xiaonan Yang – Carla Esparza
Justin Tafa – Jared Vanderaa
Felicia Spencer – Norma Dumont
David Dvorak – Roliane Paiva
Jack Hermansson – Edmen Shahbazyan

preliminary card

Bill Algeo – Ricardo Ramos
Ben Rothwell – Chris Barnett
Claudio Silva – Kurt McGee
Bruno Silva – Victor Rodriguez
Joshua Coulibao – Yalen Sha
Yancey Medeiros – Damir Hadzovic
Rafael Alves – Damir Ismagulov
Sarah Alper – Lupita Godinez

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