Bellator 296: Fabian Edwards secures middleweight title shot with win over Gegard Mousasi in Paris
Fabian Edwards to meet Johnny Eblen for the Bellator middleweight title in Dublin on September 23; British fighter beats Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision in Paris on Friday night to earn shot at Eblen; Edwards’ brother Leon is the reigning UFC welterweight champion
Fabian Edwards will face Johnny Eblen for the Bellator middleweight title in Dublin in September after beating Gegard Mousasi in an eliminator.
British star Edwards defeated former two-time champion Mousasi via unanimous decision in Paris on Friday night at Bellator 296 – before he was confronted in the ring by Eblen.
A clash between the two was confirmed for September 23, when Edwards will be looking to follow his brother Leon – the reigning UFC welterweight champion – in claiming MMA gold.
No siblings have held titles at the same time across multiple major MMA promotions.
“One more fight until I get that gold belt and make history,” said Edwards, who extended his winning streak to three fights since back-to-back defeats to Costello van Steenis (September 2020) and Austin Vanderford (May 2021).
Edwards, who had Leon in his corner in Paris, saw his clash with Mousasi stopped in the second round after an illegal knee from his opponent.
But the 30-year-old did not let that affect him as he bossed the remainder of the contest, proving much the cleaner striker.
Speaking in his post-fight interview, Edwards said: “There are levels. After I suffered my losses. A lot of people wrote me off, thought I was finished.”
Mousasi had lost the Bellator middleweight title to Eblen in his previous fight, beaten via unanimous decision in June of last year at Bellator 282 in Connecticut.
