This Friday, Bellator heads for Paris for a massive event. Gegard Mousasi will take on Fabien Edwards in a main event that is sure to be fireworks.
Main event
Mousasi vs Edwards
Mousasi will be fighting for the first time since losing his Bellator middleweight championship all the way back at Bellator 282. The 20-year veteran has had 9 fights under the Bellator banner and has amassed an impressive record of 7-2. Undoubtedly still one of the top middleweights in the world, before losing the title to Johnny Eblen he had made successful defences against the likes of Douglas Lima, Rory MacDonald and Austin Vanderford. A win against a young and hungry Fabien Edwards would be the 50th in Mousasi’s career and would land him back where he wants to be, which is a rematch against current champion Johnny Eblen.
Fabien Edwards will be looking to cement his own name for himself outside of being the younger brother of current UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. After going unbeaten overall and picking up a 4 fight win streak in Bellator Fabien would then lose two fights back-to-back against Costello Van Steenis and Austin Vanderford respectively. Since the losses though he has bounced back well and a vicious knockout win over MMA legend Lyoto Machida along with a decisive victory against SBG Ireland and former UFC fighter Charlie Ward have shown that the losses have not affected his form in the long term. A win against Mousasi would put Edwards on an impressive 3 fight-winning streak and would grant him a title fight against Eblen where he would finally be given the chance to carve out his own legacy.
Main Card
Primus vs Barnaoui
The co-main event sees a Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal take place between former lightweight champion Brent Primus and Mansour Barnaoui. Primus is best remembered for winning the belt from Michael Chandler back in 2017 and has had a somewhat mixed run of form since. A win over Benson Henderson stands out yet coming off of a loss the former champ will be looking to re-assert himself in the lightweight picture and show the fans that there is life in the old dog yet.
His opponent Mansour Barnaoui boasts an extremely impressive resume. Only 30 years old, 20 fights and only 4 losses becomes even more impressive when analyzing the names he lost to. A loss to former UFC title challenger Kevin Lee in 2012, current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in 2013, former Cage Warriors Lightweight challenger Ivan Buchinger in 2015 and his last loss coming to current top 10 ranked UFC lightweight Mateusz Gamrot in 2016. Since then he has gone on a 8 fight winning streak and will surely fancy his chances to go all the way in this Grand Prix.
Lima vs Van Steenis
Also on the main card is Douglas Lima vs Costello Van Steenis. Lima will be looking to pick up his first win inside the octagon since 2019. The former welterweight king was once considered to be one of the very best fighters in the world regardless of organization yet an attempt to challenge Gegard Mousasi for the middleweight strap would see the beginning of a sharp decline for Lima who has lost his last 4 contests. He will be looking at getting back to winning ways.
His opponent Costello van Steenis will feel hard done by that it is not him getting the title eliminator against Mousasi after Steenis picked up a win against Fabien Edwards back in 2020. He has only fought once since then and will need to show he is capable of more activity if he wishes to become champion. A win over Douglas Lima would certainly prove that he is still keeping focus.
Gouti vs Mousah
The main card will be opened by Thibault Gouti and Kane Mousah. Gouti is a former UFC veteran who did not have the best run of form in the organization yet since leaving has managed to win 4 of his last 5. Mousah is 3-2 in his last 5 and last picked up a win over crafty veteran Georgi Karakhanyan at Bellator 282.
Main Card
Fabian Edwards def. Gegard Mousasi via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Brent Primus def. Mansour Barnaoui via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal
Douglas Lima def. Costello van Steenis via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Thibault Gouti def. Kane Mousah via KO (Punch) at 3:58 of Round 2
Preliminary Card
Denise Kielholtz def. Paula Cristina via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Luca Poclit def. Oliver Enkamp via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Saul Rogers vs Davy Gallon Declared a No Contest
Yves Landu def. Piotr Niedzielski via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sarvarjon Khamidov def. Kevin Petshi via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:33 of Round 3
Tim Wilde def. Chris Gonzalez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Fabacary Diatta def. Keir Harvie via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Asael Adjoudj def. Georges Sasu via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x2, 29-27)
Romain Debienne def. Bourama Camara via TKO (Punches) R2, 1:04
Jose Augusto def. Simon Biyong via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
