Brendan Allen vs. Edmen Shahbazyan squared off in a Middleweight bout earlier tonight (Sat., June 6, 2026) at UFC Vegas 118 inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a fun and bloody fight, Allen extended his win streak to three.
Allen came out aggressive, pressing forward and kicking at the lead leg. He didn’t wait long to fire his right hand, which Shahbazyan avoided early on. Shahbazyan worked to establish the jab but was otherwise patient to start the contest. Allen started to time the jab, landing
a couple rights. Midway through the round, Shahbazyan stuffed Allen’s first takedown attempt nicely, but “All In” was still leading the dance. A counter right hand finally scored for Shahbazyan with about a minute remaining, which definitely caught Allen’s attention. After that land, Shahbazyan opened up more, landing solidly on a couple of occasions.
Allen attacked with a flurry late, sealing a competitive round in his favor.
Shahbazyan stuck a hard jab to start round two. Allen started opening exchanges with his right hand, which caught Shahbazyan off-guard on several occasions. Allen flurried and got deep on a takedown attempt, but he still couldn’t drag down “Golden Boy.” The two began to brawl a bit, and both men landed from close quarters. Shahbazyan’s jab continued to hum, but he wasn’t throwing enough volume to quite match Allen’s pressure and diversity of offense. Allen scored his best shots when mixing clinch knees and kicks into his combinations.
With five minutes remaining, it was anyone’s fight.
Allen started the third hot, finding a home for his right hand lead and a nice elbow on the break of a clinch. He kept Shahbazyan’s back close to the cage, limiting his movement. Shahbazyan’s eye split open and blood poured down his chest. Shahbazyan’s landing percentage, conversely, seemed to drop off a bit, as he struggled in the face of Allen’s pressure and extended combinations. Allen did really nice work mixing elbows into his attack, interrupting the boxing flow of Shahbazyan.
A final takedown late in the round served as the nail in Shahbazyan’s coffin.
This was a strange matchup from first booking, but Allen did his job well to earn the victory. When the takedown didn’t land early on, he wasn’t deterred, continuing to push the pace and mix up his offense. He took some jabs in the process, but Allen ultimately landed the heavier shots and bloodied up his opponent en route to the clear-cut victory.
Is it finally time for that Dricus du Plessis grudge match?
Result: Allen defeats Shahbazyan via unanimous decision
For complete UFC Vegas 118 results and play-by-play, click here.
