Preview: DWCS Season 3, Episode 9

Leon Shahbazyan vs. Phil Rowe

It is difficult to get a strong grasp on Shahbazyan’s game, as there is not much film of his previous fights available. The older brother of UFC middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan, he is a long welterweight who uses his size well. The Glendale Fight Club representative is a well-rounded fighter who has finished all seven of his victories. Carrying a 7-1 record, he keeps his opponents on the end of his punches and has nice snap on his strikes. The 23-year-old throws hard kicks to the legs and has the ability to sneak one to the head if his opponent is not prepared. Shahbazyan is a grappling specialist, as he has six wins by way of submission. He is so confident off his back that he can give up takedowns too easily, but he does a good job of attacking with a submission or scrambling to his feet. Shahbazyan was supposed to fight on the first episode of Season 3 but was removed from the contest the day before due to a weigh-cutting issue. The UFC gave the young fighter a second chance, so hopefully he has learned how to manage the scale correctly.

An Island Fights veteran, Rowe started his career by losing back-to-back bouts. Since the rough start, the 29-year-old has been perfect with six straight victories. The Brooklyn, New York-born fighter now calls Florida home and is a long and lengthy welterweight who stands 6-foot-3. “The Fresh Prince” is an elusive striker who likes to taunt his opponents. He uses his length well by keeping his opponents at the end of his punches. The Fusion X-Cel export dispatches straight punches down the pipe and packs some nice power in his right hand. However, he makes the mistake of dropping his hands and can be backed up to the cage when he is being pressured. He possesses real snap on his leg kicks but does not use them enough. He also forgets to check leg kicks. The former middleweight uses his length well in the clinch, easily battering his opponent’s midsection with knees. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt is not a strong wrestler but is a legitimate submission threat, with his guillotine being his most trusted maneuver. Rowe is so confident in his grappling that he is willing to pull guard to get the fight to the ground. He can be a little too comfortable off his back, letting his opponent rack up points while he searches for the submission. Rowe has not challenged himself with high-quality opposition: He has yet to beat a fighter with a winning record, and his opponents had a combined 7-13 record when he fought them.

These two massive welterweights appear to be quite similar in their approach to fighting. Shahbazyan appears to be more of a finished product, and it is impossible not to think that Rowe’s impressive record was padded with low-level fodder. If Shahbazyan is anywhere near as good as his brother, he should cruise to an easy win by second-round TKO and draw a contract out of UFC President Dana White.