Fabian Edwards secured himself as the No. 1 contender to the middleweight title with a victory over Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 296.
Fabian Edwards takes out Gegard Mousasi
Johnny Eblen has his next challenger and his name is Fabian Edwards. At Bellator 296 from Paris, France, Edwards knocked off former champion Gegard Mousasi, denying him his 50th career win in the process.
Edwards will challenge Eblen for the Bellator middleweight title on September 23 when the promotion visits Dublin, Ireland.
To get to Eblen, though, Edwards has to go through Mousasi. He controlled the five round fight, sweeping the scorecards and claiming four of the five rounds to improve to 12-2 in his career.
After I suffered my losses a lot of people wrote me off, a lot of people thought I was finished, but now I’m here: one more fight until I get that gold belt,” Edwards said. Who in MMA can say they’ve got Machida and Mousasi on their record? I lost my two fights and everyone wrote me off. I kept my self-belief, got back to the gym and carried on working and now I’m back here, on a three-fight winning streak and one fight away from a world title.
The gameplan was to go in there and do me. I feel like I could’ve thrown a few more kicks but I hurt my foot and every time I kicked I could feel it and I didn’t want to show it [the pain] on my face.”
Brent Primus advances, tops Barnaoui
In the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix, Brent Primus moved on, besting Mansour Barnaoui. Primus claimed all three scorecards, earning three of the five rounds overall.
With the win, Primus will take on Usman Nurmagomedov in the semifinals. The reigning champion advanced earlier this year with a victory over Benson Henderson.
I’ve been asking Bellator for that fight [against Nurmagomedov], since about a year and a half ago. If you work hard and you believe in yourself, things happen,” Primus said. “Here we go, man! I get a shot at the title and I couldn’t be happier. I respect him, I respect his whole camp. He’s a great champion, he comes from a really good camp and trains with really good guys but I’m going to win that fight and I’m going to be the champion again. He’s a great champion but I have confidence in myself and I’m going to go in there and win that title back.Â
“Everyone says I’m getting old, I’m 38. Gosh damn it’s crazy just to say that I’m 38 but I feel young, I feel really good in the gym. I’m training so gosh damn hard, I’m feel like training harder than all the younger kids in the gym and I feel like I’m beating all the younger kids up. I don’t feel 38 that for sure, I keep on hearing that I’m old but I don’t feel it so… screw that, I’m young!”
Douglas Lima, Thibault Gouti score wins
Former champion Douglas Lima and Thibault Gouti picked up wins on the main card.
Lima topped Costello van Steenis and Gouti knocked out Kane Mousah.
For Lima, a former welterweight champion, the win came as he tries out the middleweight division.
“It’s a big weight off the shoulders getting the win. It’s not easy coming back after a bunch of losses like that. I came in here and executed,” Lima said. “Night and day difference. I wasn’t able to put a lot of weight back on, but I felt amazing and felt good. My whole team got me the energy I needed and the support. France it’s a pleasure to be here. I’m not going away.”
Bellator 296 Results
#2-Fabian Edwards (12-2) def. #1-Gegard Mousasi (49-9-2) via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
#4-Brent Primus (12-3) def. #8-Mansour Barnaoui (20-5) via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Douglas Lima (33-11) def. #10-Costello van Steenis (14-3) via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Thibault Gouti (15-6) def. Kane Mousah (14-5) via KO at of R1
#6-Denise Kielholtz (6-5) def. Paula Cristina (6-1) via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Luca Poclit (9-1) def. Oliver Enkamp (11-4) via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Davy Gallon (21-8-2, 1 NC) vs. Saul Rogers (15-5, 1 NC) resulted in a No Contest
Yves Landu (19-9) def. Piotr Niedzielski (17-6) via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sarvarjon Khamidov (15-0) def. Kevin Petshi (18-6) via Submission (RNC) at 1:33 or R3
Tim Wilde (16-4-1) def. Chris Gonzalez (8-3) via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Fabacary Diatta (9-1) def. Keir Harvie (5-3-2) via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Asael Adjoudj (6-1) def. Georges Sasu (4-3) via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Romain Debienne (10-4) def. Bourama Camara (5-3) via KO at 1:04 of R2
Jose Augusto (8-4, 1 NC) def. Simon Biyong (9-3) via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
