“I Needed to Change”- Edmen Shahbazyan Has ‘No Ill Will’ Towards Ronda Rousey After Changing Training Camps

Posted on by Matt James

UFC middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan spoke to MMA Fighting and opened up on his move away from Ronda Rousey’s affiliated gym trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, given the state of his career at the moment. The once-promising prospect has fallen on some hard times and hasn’t been able to get it together.

‘The Golden Boy’ has lost three fights in a row and hasn’t won a fight since UFC 244 back in November 2019 when he defeated Brad Tavares via head kick KO. He has since lost to Derek Brunson, Jack Hermansson, and Nassourdine Imavov and he’s been finished via TKO in two of those three defeats.

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Edmen Shahbazyan has ‘no ill will’ towards Ronda Rousey and Co.

The 24-year-old middleweight talked about his move to Vegas and he clearly believes it will be beneficial for his overall career. At times, MMA fighters tend to stagnate in terms of the evolution of their skill set, and a change is needed to get things back on track.

“Going off my past two fights, I feel a change was definitely needed and it was long overdue,” Shahbazyan said. “I looked at my options to see where I can be that I feel I can unleash my full potential and I believe Vegas had the best thing. I’m away from distractions. I can concentrate on training.”

“I needed to change,” Shahbazyan said. “It was time. It was definitely time for me. It could have been done sooner but now I’m just happy to be here and get the new work in. I have not talked [to them] since I left. From my end, I have a good relationship [with them]. I don’t have any problem. All respect cause I respect what they’ve done for me but on my end, I’m good.”

Additionally, he went on to say that while he hadn’t spoken to Rousey since making the move, he still harbors no ill will toward the former bantamweight UFC champion. He expressed that there was nothing but respect from his side.

“I haven’t talked to [Ronda] in say a few months. I don’t have anything against her, respect from my end. As far as my end, I don’t have no ill will.” [h/t MMA fighting.com].

It remains to be seen if the change in training camp leads to impressive results inside the octagon. Moreover, he’s fallen out of contention at the moment and it’ll be hard to get back to winning ways with another loss.