Former opponent Edmen Shahbazyan asked Brad Tavares if it was okay for him to train at Xtreme Couture

Edmen Shahbazyan (left) and Brad Tavares (right) [Photo credit: @bradtavares808 on Instagram]

Brad Tavares revealed that his former opponent, Edmen Shahbazyan, asked for his permission before joining his team at Xtreme Couture.

Shahbazyan recently made significant changes by leaving his old gym and management team. The up-and-coming middleweight, who was trained by Edmond Tarverdyan and represented by Ronda Rousey, now trains at the UFC Performance Center and Xtreme Couture.

However, Shahbazyan apparently felt it would be awkward to be teammates with his former opponent Tavares. As such, 'The Golden Boy' apparently asked for Tavares' permission before heading to the Las Vegas-based gym, a gesture that Tavares seemed to appreciate.

During his UFC 276 Media Day interview with James Lynch of Sportskeeda MMA, Tavares said:

"So we ran into each other and he actually... He's such a cool guy. When he first got to town, he came up to me and approached me. He was like, 'Hey man, basically I plan to come to train at [Xtreme] Couture and I hope that's alright with you.' I was like, 'Yeah, no hard feelings. We fought and I don't know...' But I haven't seen him. He's been in and out, hasn't really trained with us too much."

Check out our exclusive interview with Brad Tavares or watch more UFC 276 interviews on the Sportskeeda YouTube page.

Tavares and Shahbazyan fought on the preliminary card of UFC 244 in November 2019. 'The Golden Boy' made short work of the veteran, putting him away via technical knockout in the first round.

Brad Tavares reveals his advantage over Dricus Du Plessis

Brad Tavares will face a tough challenge in the form of highly-touted middleweight prospect Dricus Du Plessis.

Although Tavares will enter Saturday night's bout as a betting underdog, he believes his experience and veteran savvy will help him overcome the up-and-comer. He told reporters at the UFC 276 Media Day:

"I always say this, it's one thing to get into the UFC and it's a complete different animal to stay there. You know, it's hard work and it's a goal of fighters to get there but then to stay here, to stay competitive, to stay winning fights... You see guys you think are going to be the next best thing, all these hype trains. And for some of them, it works out for them. They go on and do great things, but others wash out really quickly."

Updated #UFC276 bout order (per ESPN) https://t.co/frQDgHbeT5