Photo courtesy of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA)

Check out our divisional round-up for a greater understanding of ACA’s lightweight division.

Eduard “Lionheart” Vartanyan might be the most well-rounded Lightweight in the world. His discrete skills place him in a category above most, with elite striking and distance wrestling, as well as very good clinch and grappling games. His strength in various individual disciplines is not what makes him so special as a fighter, however.

Vartanyan’s game possesses an incredible degree of coherence and synergy. Every aspect of his skillset acts as one cog designed to function as part of a whole. His striking flows seamlessly into his wrestling and vise-versa. Vartanyan thrives in the interstitial areas between striking and grappling, using transitions to confuse opponents and set up offense across multiple phases.

On the feet, Vartanyan is comfortable everywhere, but prefers to operate just outside the pocket, on the edge of his jabbing range. Vartanyan is sort of a mash-up of out-fighter and boxer-puncher, using his deft footwork on the outside to set up entries into the pocket and prevent his opponent from getting to their attacks. His pocket work is very comfortable and sound, but he usually prefers to get in and out quickly rather than sticking around for deep exchanges. When pressed, he defaults to out-fighting, but still maintains a capacity to out-box opponents in the pocket and put them off their pressure.

Although Vartanyan has a clearly defined system whereby opponents are kept on the outside, feinted out of countering him in the pocket, and tricked into walking onto his takedowns, he’s not limited by that system. Vartanyan is an incredibly intelligent and adaptable fighter. He tends to start a bit slow, but the other side of the coin is that he’s always gathering information and making reads. Vartanyan is the kind of fighter that figures out how to beat his opponents mid-fight.

When elite striker, Alexandr Shabliy, was walking him down and nailing him with a consistent cross counter over his jab, Vartanyan began feinting more actively, layering his jab and adding level changes to prevent Shabliy from comfortably countering. In his rematch for the ACB Lightweight title against Champion Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov, who built much of his game around the cross counter, Vartanyan saw his vulnerability in an open stance engagement and started lacing him with southpaw straight punches and round kicks.

Fundamental Brilliance

No matter what he’s doing, Vartanyan exhibits excellent fundamentals. He remains defensively responsible in all phases, sets his attacks up logically, and builds on his opponent’s reactions throughout his fights. His distance management is impeccable, and opponents are often lead around the cage as Vartanyan dances on the edge of his punching distance, sticking them with long-range pot-shots.

The jab is a crucial element of Vartanyan’s distance control. He has a nuanced, layered jab that he uses to fluster opponents on the outside and set up entries. He varies the cadence of his jab, flitting between ram-rod jabs designed to bar his opponent’s entry into the pocket and soft, throwaway jabs to draw out counters.