The simple take is that UFC Vegas 96’s middleweight fight between Edmen Shahbazyan and Gerald Meershaert is a striker versus grappler showdown.
Shahbazyan (13-4), the striker in that equation, sees it as something more.
“Definitely. I think it’s more finisher versus finisher,” Shahbazyan stated during this week’s UFC Vegas 96 media day. “I think it makes for a very exciting fight. Training camp’s been amazing. Going off the last one, skill building on the last one. It’s always been great. Now I’m ready.”
“I’m ready for war, I can tell you that. I’m in prime shape, I’m in dog shape to be going all the way strong.”
When it comes to how he sees himself getting the win this Saturday at the UFC Apex, Shahbazyan said simply that it will be by “any way possible. I’m telling you I’m ready for war, it’s going to be a fun fight and I’m excited for this.”
Later, he’d give Meerschaert, a.k.a. GM3, his dues. The 36-year old has 28 submission victories in a 50+ fight career.
“I know he’s a good fighter, he’s had lots of fights in the UFC like myself. Finisher versus finisher, it excites me,” said Shahbazyan. “And these are the types of fights that motivate me to work even harder to show my skills against a guy like him.”
Shahbazyan, who believes teammate Sean Strickland is deserving of the next title shot at middleweight, also addressed how he would handle middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis. This past weekend at UFC 305, Du Plessis became the first man to submit Israel Adesanya.
“You’ve got to be, I feel like each round, you’ve got to have a different style approach in sparring. That’s how I feel like you’ve got to prepare for a guy like Dricus, different styles every single round. Because he could be a different type of fighter every single round.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 96 media day appearance by Edmen Shahbazyan above.
