Leon Shahbazyan, brother of UFC middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan, and standout Georgian talent Levan Chokheli made their promotional debuts against one another at UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday.
Both welterweights were jumping straight to the UFC, though Shahbazyan had a prior loss on Dana White’s Contender Series.
As it turned out, the fight was over almost before it started.
Round one kicked off, and it ended incredibly quickly. Levan Chokheli landed a heavy outside leg kick in the opening seconds. Shahbazyan was soon turtled up against the cage, and Chokheli unloaded. It was a left hook to the body that took down Shahbazyan, as he was visibly in pain, holding his knee. The ref came in, and that was all she wrote. Georgia’s Chokheli had the win in less than thirty seconds. Just twenty-three, to be exact.
Chokheli improves to 15-3, 1NC with the win, and has won five of his last six fights. The lone loss came under the Bellator MMA banner, against longtime UFC and Bellator vet Lorenz Larkin. After going 9-0 to start his career, Levan Chokheli struggled during his first few fights in Bellator, but was 4-3 by the time the PFL had acquired its rival. He’s now off to a good start in the UFC, and at age 29 is firmly in his prime.
Official Result: Levan Chokheli def. Leon Shahbazyan via TKO (leg kick and punches), Round 1, 0:23
