Fabian Edwards (born 24 March 1993) is an English professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. As of 28 June 2022, he is #2 in the Bellator Middleweight Rankings. He is the younger brother of

UFC Welterweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Leon Edwards Leon Aaron Edwards (born 25 August 1991) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Welterweight Champion. A profe ...

Background

Edwards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where he and his family shared a single bed, one room, and a wooden house with a tin roof. They were living in squalor without realising it. Edwards' father was the boss of a neighbourhood gang, going by the name "The General." Edwards became desensitised to gun violence since it occurred so frequently in his neighbourhood where gang and criminal activity were rife. Gunshots were commonplace. When Edwards was seven years old, his parents divorced, and his father was already residing in London while continuing to provide for the family financially from afar. They relocated to England to be closer to him, first to London and then to Aston, Birmingham. There were gangs there as well, and until they discovered MMA and formed Team Renegade, they spent their time blending in. Fabian started MMA five to six years after his brother did so at the age of 16 due to the insistance of his brother. When Edwards was thirteen, his father was shot dead in a London nightclub.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Prior to going pro, he had a 9-0 record as an amateur. He rose up the ranks by working as a janitor and a carpenter. He didn't leave his janitorial position until after signing his first deal with Bellator, at which point he believed his MMA career was already well started. The younger Edwards alternated between a day job and a fighting career for many years, working both jobs to exhaustion. But someday, he assured them, "I'd be making enough money not to do that. I simply persisted, and it sort of paid off. Before joining the British organisation

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ire ...

, he made his professional MMA debut with Bellator on 19 May 2017 against Rafał Cejrowski, scoring a brutal flying knee knockout in the first round. He reeled off five straight stoppages under the BAMMA promotion to start off his career in style. Starting with Aaron Kennedy via rear-naked choke at BAMMA 30, Louis King via rear-naked choke at BAMMA 33, Kent Kauppinen via armbar at BAMMA 34, and finally Claudio Conti via body kick TKO at BAMMA 35.

Bellator MMA

After his highlight flying knee knockout, Edwards signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator. Edwards faced Lee Chadwick on 9 February 2019 at Bellator Newcastle, defeating the experienced veteran via unanimous decision. Debuting in his hometown for the first time, Edwards faced Falco Neto on 4 May 2019 at Bellator Birmingham, defeating Neto via in highlight fashion, landing multiple upkicks on Neto that knocked him down, afterwards being finished by Edwards on the ground. Neto later tested positive for metabolites of

methyltestosterone Methyltestosterone, sold under the brand names Android, Metandren, and Testred among others, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which is used in the treatment of low testosterone levels in men, delayed puberty in boys, at low ...

and

nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) which is used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate (brand name Durabolin). Nandrolon ...

and was handed down a 6 month suspension. After the win, Edwards signed a new deal with Bellator and in his first bout of the deal faced Jonathan Bosuku on 22 June 2019 at Bellator 223. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Edwards faced Mike Shipman on 23 November 2019 at Bellator London 2, defeating him in a close bout via split decision. After initially being booked against Costello Van Steenis for 16 May 2020 at Bellator London 3, the event was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. The bout was rebooked for 26 September 2020 at Bellator Milan 2, where Fabian lost his first bout in his career via split decision. Edwards faced

Austin Vanderford Austin Vanderford (born March 21, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA where he competes in the Middleweight division. As of February 7, 2023, he is #6 in the Bellator Middleweight Rankings. ...

on 21 May 2021 at

Bellator 259 Bellator 259: Cyborg vs. Smith 2 was a mixed martial arts event that was produced by Bellator MMA at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background The event featured a Bellator Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the ch ...

, losing the bout via unanimous decision. Edwards, as a replacement for Norbert Novenyi, was scheuled to face

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

Bellator 270 Bellator 270: Queally vs. Pitbull 2 (also known as ''Bellator Dublin'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on November 5, 2021 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The event marked Bellator's first return to Irish s ...

on 5 November 2021. Ward had to pull out however due to a ruptured bicep and was replaced by promotional newcomer Robert Fonseca. Fonseca couldn't get paperwork sorted in time and the bout was scratched, with no replacement sought. Edwards was scheduled to face Marian Dimitrov at

Bellator 275 Bellator 275: Mousasi vs. Vanderford was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 25, 2022, at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background In the main event, Gegard Mousasi defended his Middleweight title ...

on 25 February 2022. However, the bout was scrapped a week before for unknown reason. Edwards was rebooked against

Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...

at Bellator London. Edwards faced former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

on 13 May 2022 at

Bellator 281 ''Bellator 281: MVP vs. Storley'' (also known as '' Bellator London'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on May 13, 2022, at SSE Arena in London, England. Background Yaroslav Amosov was to make his first ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the first round, catching Machida with an elbow after breaking from a clinch. Edwards faced

on 29 October 2022 at

Bellator 287 ''Bellator 287: Piccolotti vs. Barnaoui'' (also known as ''Bellator Milan'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on October 29, 2022, at the Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Italy. Background Bellator will re ...

. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Edwards is scheduled to face

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

on 12 May 2023 at Bellator Paris.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 ,

, KO (elbow and punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:18 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 , Costello van Steenis , Decision (split) , Bellator Milan 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Mike Shipman , Decision (split) , Bellator London 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Jonathan Bosuku , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 223 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Falco Neto , TKO (upkicks and punches) , Bellator Birmingham , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:51 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Lee Chadwick , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator Newcastle , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Claudio Conti , TKO (body kick) , BAMMA 35 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Kent Kauppinen , Submission (armbar) , BAMMA 34 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:52 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Louis King , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 33 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:15 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Aaron Kennedy , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 30 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:44 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Rafał Cejrowski , KO (flying knee) , Bellator 179 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:44 ,

, England ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Fabian 1993 births Living people English male mixed martial artists Jamaican male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Bellator male fighters