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Derek Brunson will hope to hand Edmen Shahbazyan his first loss at UFC 248.
Derek Brunson’s first fight of his new UFC deal will come against undefeated Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC 248 in March.
The UFC announced the matchup on Wednesday. Brunson announced on his Instagram last month he had signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC after scoring consecutive wins in 2019.
Brunson (20-7) rebounded off consecutive KO losses to Jacare Souza and now champion Israel Adesanya by winning decisions against Ian Heinisch and Elias Theodorou last year inside the octagon. The 36-year-old has put together a respectable 11-5 record during his time in the UFC.
The undefeated Shahbazyan (11-0) is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster at the age of 22. “The Golden Boy” has already put together a 4-0 record inside the octagon, and in 2019 Shahbazyan picked up finishes against Charles Byrd, Jack Marshman and Brad Tavares, all of which came in the first round.
UFC 248 takes place on March 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.