Shahbazyan hasn’t come close to recapturing the form he showed during his early UFC rise, where he rattled off first-round knockouts and earned the “Golden Boy” moniker. That momentum crashed in a one-sided loss to Derek Brunson, and since then, he’s consistently fallen short against opponents with strong chins and solid grappling.

In a 3-round bantamweight bout on the main card, Cody Garbrandt and Raoni Barcelos meet Saturday at UFC on ESPN 69 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.