If i am in front of my computer watching fights, I take notes. So that next time i am breaking that guy down, i remember my actual raw thoughts in the moment and not just what the tape study says. Here are my notes for Leon Shabazyan “skinny, gumby ass pussy”. Verbatim. Now you would think that would make him an automatic fade, and most of the time it would, but he’s fighting no chin Niko who’s coming out of retirement. What’s even worse than that though is he is also no takedown Niko, well its actually no takedown defense Niko, but that doesn’t rhyme. Seriously though, this is almost impossible. On one hand i want to say even a bad UFC fighter is a UFC caliber fighter and then list off Niko’s wins and even his losses, on the other hand he full blown retired and this comeback seems like a money grab. This breakdown is more about Niko than Leon because as noted earlier, Leon is a skinny gumby ass pussy. If i could say no pick i would, but I have to, so I’m going to pick the non gumby ass pussy. Niko is the pick, but please for the love of god, don’t do anything with that.
Leon Shahbazyan
Leon Shahbazyan is Edmen Shahbazyan’s older brother but unlike Edmen, he is a grappler and not a very striker. His striking isn’t awful, but he has a weird stance and is hittable. He’s incredibly long and can fight at range but most of his striking success comes from counters when people rush in. The length is very obvious on the ground when he’s using long guy submission like triangles and power gulotines. his wrestling isn’t great and most of his submissions are coming off his back or in scrambles off his opponents shots. He is coming off a KO loss to Levan Chokheli in his UFC debut where he landed literally 0 strikes and was knocked out in 23 seconds.
Niko Price
Niko Price is an incredibly fun fighter who has a willingness to put himself in harms way for the fans. He has solid striking and good submissions. But he can also lose to anyone on any day because of a lack of skills and slipping chin. He is coming off the submission loss to Michael Chiesa which was his retirement, but he’s back only 6 months later and I’m not sure if it is a career revival or a second shot at a sendoff.
