Fabian Edwards defeats Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision
A dominant performance sees Birmingham's Edwards secure a title shot in Dublin on 23 Sepember
Edwards pulled away from face-off with champion Johnny Eblen in the cage
American Brent Primus upsets French crowd by beating Mansour Barnaoui via unanimous decision
Primus fights lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov next in the semi-final of the grand prix
Home fighter Thibault Gouti stops Manchester's Kane Mousah in explosive style with second-round knockout
Get involved #bbcmma
Lima v Van Steenis
Douglas Lima sparked the crowd back into life with a right hand that rocked Costello van Steenis.
The Brazilian legend tried to follow it up and finish off Van Steenis, and although he didn't manage it, the veteran probably did enough to make it a winning return to middleweight.
Lima v Van Steenis
The Paris crowd began to get a little restless with the lack of action in that second round but there was enough from Douglas Lima to take it, despite a late takedown by Costello van Steenis.
Josh Thomson says they now just need to "let it all hang out".
Lima v Van Steenis
Douglas Lima on moving to middleweight: “I always thought middleweight would be the place for me. I feel good. I don’t think I’ll ever be the biggest middleweight, but at least I’m healthier. I was very upset with myself when I missed weight in my last fight. I definitely feel a lot healthier; I didn’t have to cut as much weight as I usually do, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m focusing just on training instead of cutting weight.”
On losing his last four fights: “For me, it’s part of the game. We play a tough sport. Everyone I fight is good; I’ve been fighting the number one and number two guys. A lot of times, I stepped in there and didn’t feel like myself. I don’t know why. The camps would be great, but something was off.
"But I’m not thinking about those losses. The biggest thing is to be at my best, so I’m doing everything I can to be my best on Friday night.”
Paul Battison
BBC Sport in Paris, France
There is a pocket of fans vociferously backing Costello van Steenis, chanting his name during his fight against Douglas Lima.
Van Steenis is team-mates with Gegard Mousasi and handed Fabian Edwards the first defeat of his MMA career in 2020.
I'm sure they will also be right behind Netherlands team-mate Mousasi in the main event.
Lima v Van Steenis
Pretty even that first round, although Josh Thomson on commentary felt Costello van Steenis edged it.
Paul Battison
BBC Sport in Paris, France
Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov has just arrived at cageside.
The Russian has a vested interest in the co-main event as he will face the winner of Mansour Barnaoui and Brent Primus in the semi-finals of Bellator's Grand Prix tournament.
He's sat three seats down from middleweight champion Johnny Eblen, who is likely to face the winner of tonight's main event between Fabian Edwards and Gegard Mousasi.
A lot riding on tonight's fights...
Lima v Van Steenis
Now it's time for Brazilian veteran Douglas Lima (32-11), the former three-time welterweight champion, who has returned to middleweight after losing his last four to take on Dutchman Costello van Steenis (14-2).
Rogers-Gallon declared no contest
Manchester's Saul Rogers, who Tim Wilde beat last time out, made a swift start against lightweight rival Davy Gallon.
The 33-year-old got Gallon in a D'arce choke and as the Frenchman was locked in a defensive position against the submission, the referee stopped the fight at 2:12 minutes.
Was a hasty call from the referee, Gallon wasn't done yet and certainly not unconscious. Rogers was initially named the winner, but it was overturned to a no contest after an instant replay review.
While we were waiting for the main card to start, Gallon had this to say to his home crowd: "Paris, I want to say make a lot of noise for Saul Rogers. He did a great job, and we can do it again next time, no problem."
Gouti beats Mousah by knockout
Paul Battison
BBC Sport in Paris, France
That knockdown from Thibault Gouti has sparked the loudest reaction yet from the Paris crowd tonight.
They were right behind the home favourite, chanting his name and stomping their feet to cheer him on against Kane Mousah.
Another Frenchman, Davy Gallon, was involved with a no contest earlier with Mousah's team-mate Saul Rogers, much to the crowd's dismay, so they'll want this one back.
Gouti beats Mousah by knockout
Thibault Gouti: “I knew Mousah was a good striker. I knew we would stand up. I hurt him in the first round but he recovered very well.
“In the second round he caught me so I started to change my stance. I think he was [knocked] out. He said he was okay. I don’t know man, I’m not a referee.
“There is a guy I'd love to watch fight. I have big respect for him and that is Tim Wilde. He just fought, he has very good style. I would like to fight him and I respect him.”
Wilde beats Gonzalez by unanimous decision
Thibault Gouti has just called out Wolverhampton's Tim Wilde, one of two Britons to fight on the undercard, and he was a comfortable winner over Chris Gonzalez.
The 35-year-old had Fabian's older brother Leon Edwards in his corner as he claimed a unanimous decision to improve his record to 16-4.
Edwards was then by his side in the cage as Wilde yelled "top 10" into the camera, which is where he now hopes to be in Bellator's lightweight rankings.
Gouti beats Mousah
Wow... Kane Mousah had gradually got on top during the second round.
He hurt Thibault Gouti with a kick to the body then caught him with a couple of flush punches.
But as the Frenchman tried to get himself off the fence, he clipped Mousah with a right hand to his chin which sent the Englishman tumbling backwards and the referee stepped in to spare him any further damage.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Brett Johns was due to fight tonight but the Welsh bantamweight was forced to withdraw because of a staph infection.
The 31-year-old (19-3) was set to take on 23-year-old Brazilian Marcirley Alves da Silva (11-3).
Then England's Steven Hill (7-0) weighed in at 174.8 pounds for his fight against Nicolo Solli (4-1).
That is 3.8 pounds over the welterweight non-title bout limit and the Italian, who fights out of Dublin, refused to take on 29-year-old Hill.
Gouti v Mousah
The French crowd have been chanting 'Thibault, Thibault' during the first round, which saw their man's right hand put Kane Mousah on his backside but the Englishman managed to recover and regroup.
Bellator 296 is already under way, with the undercard wrapped up.
Now home favourite Thibault Gouti (16-6) is heading to the cage to kick off the main card with a lightweight contest against Manchester's Kane Mousah (14-4).
Click on the link above to watch it live on BBC iPlayer.
Mousasi v Edwards
It's Friday night and Bellator is back on the BBC with a big night for British MMA.
In 2020, Bellator became the first MMA promotion to stage a live event in France and they're back in Paris for Bellator 296.
The main event sees Britain's Fabian Edwards taking on Gegard Mousasi in a middleweight title eliminator, with the winner is set to be rewarded with a title fight against current champion Johnny Eblen.
That would give Edwards a chance to emulate his older brother Leon by becoming a world champion. Leon Edwards became just the second Briton to win a UFC title against Kamaru Usman last August before retaining his welterweight belt against Usman in March. And he's here at the Accor Arena to cheer on his bro tonight.
