Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey praised middleweight prospect Edmen Shahbazyan, calling him a “special” young talent.<\/p>\n
Rousey, the UFC Hall of Famer, is the manager for Shahbazyan, who also trains at Rousey’s old stomping grounds at Glendale Fighting Club. The young middleweight headlines his first UFC event this weekend when he takes Derek Brunson at UFC on ESPN+ 31. It’s a massive fight for the 22-year-old Shahbazyan<\/a>, who is a perfect 11-0 in his MMA career thus far. In the biggest fight of his young career to date, Shahbazyan will be looking to jump into title contention at 185lbs with a win over the perennial contender Brunson this Saturday night.<\/p>\n Speaking with UFC president Dana White<\/a> before the event, Rousey shed some light on her star pupil, saying that she and the whole team knew he was a special talent years ago.<\/p>\n "We used to call him Neo; he is the one."<\/p>\n Even in "Little Eddie's" early days of MMA, @RondaRousey<\/a> remembers @edmenshahbazyan<\/a> being "special" \u2b50\ufe0f #UFCVegas5<\/a> (via @danawhite<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/CT2gYLY3k1<\/a><\/p>\n — ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 29, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n