Fabian Edwards earned Briton's number one in the Bellator middleweight rankings.

MMA General

Fabian Edwards earned Briton's number one in the Bellator middleweight rankings.

Fabian Edwards, brother of UFC titleholder Leon Edwards, beat multiple-time former MMA champion Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) on Friday in the main event of Bellator 296 in Paris to earn himself a middleweight title shot.

With the biggest victory in his career, Fabian Edwards earned the number one spot in the Bellator middleweight rankings.

After the main event, it was announced that Edwards is now the next challenger for the Bellator middleweight title, fighting champion Johnny Eblen on Sept. 23 in Dublin.

The fight between Edwards (12-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) and Mousasi (49-9-2 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) started competitively but then became one-sided as the clock went by.

Both Mousasi and Edwards were very tentative in the first 10 minutes. Edwards did seem to press the action a little more and was able to get a decent amount of top control in Round 2. Edwards did take two illegal shots – a groin kick in the first and an illegal knee to the head in the second.

The third round was much easier to score. Edwards found his range and seemed to connect more clean shots than Mousasi. His strikes also came with higher pop, too, and rattled Mousasi more.

Edwards carried that same momentum into Round 4. Much like his brother, UFC champion Leon Edwards, Edwards was picking apart Mousasi with hard, precise single shots. Mousasi did get a takedown and brief control, but he was mainly out-struck by Edwards. Edwards did get a takedown in the final 10 seconds.

The final round was the biggest for Edwards. He controlled on the feet and managed to get a takedown in the middle of the round. Once on the ground, he would transition to the back and hold that position all the way to the final bell. It was a clear win for Edwards.