Bellator 287: Fabian Edwards beats Charlie Ward by unanimous decision

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Bellator 287: Fabian Edwards beats Charlie Ward by unanimous decision

Birmingham's Fabian Edwards outclassed Charlie Ward to win by unanimous decision at Bellator 287 in Milan.

Edwards, 29, excelled in the striking and grappling to nullify the threat of Ireland's Ward, 41, throughout.

The win edges Edwards closer to a middleweight title shot against America's Johnny Eblen.

In becoming a world champion, he could emulate his older brother and current UFC welterweight title holder Leon Edwards.

The younger Edwards brother came into this fight following an impressive win over veteran Lyoto Machida in May.

That victory ended a two-fight losing streak for the previously unbeaten Edwards - defeats which he says taught him to be more aggressive and take more risks in the cage.

The performance against Ward was more methodical, lacking the explosive finish which beat Machida, but showing improvements to his all-round game.

With his brother coaching him from his corner, Edwards maintained distance from Ward in the first round, attacking from range with kicks, while avoiding Ward's heavy punches.

A left high kick rocked Ward, before Edwards slipped, giving Ward control on the ground and time to recover until the end of the round.

Rounds two and three saw the improvements to Edwards' grappling game as he took Ward down multiple times and dealt some damaging elbows, while looking for a number of submission attempts.

Ward, seemingly frustrated at being kept at bay in the third round, argued with Edwards while on the canvas, but both fighters embraced and paid respect to each other at the end of the bout.

Despite victory, Edwards appeared unhappy with his performance in the post-fight interview, perhaps being disappointed that he didn't finish Ward.

"I landed a kick that would have put away 90% of the middleweights, I said before the fight Charlie Ward was tough," said Edwards.

"I want to apologise for that fight, it wasn't the best Fabian Edwards.

"I don't care [who he faces next]. A lot of people look at that as a bad performance but that's not me. But I got the win."

The win puts Edwards, who is ranked second in the Bellator middleweight rankings, in the frame for a title shot, although Gegard Mousasi, who lost the title to Eblen in June, is ranked above him.

Barnaoui impresses on debut

In the main event, Tunisian-born French fighter Mansour Barnaoui impressed on his Bellator debut as he dominated Adam Piccolotti, winning by submission in the second round.

Barnaoui, 30, controlled the fight throughout with his excellent jiu-jitsu, before locking in a rear-naked choke and forcing America's Piccolotti to tap out.

The victory was his eighth in a row, all of them finishes and six coming via rear-naked choke.

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Bellator 287: Mansour Barnaoui beats Adam Piccolotti in round two

The bout was also Barnaoui's first since 2019, when he last fought in South Korean promotion Road Fighting Championship as their lightweight title holder.

Elsewhere, Tim Wilde came out on top against fellow Englishman Saul Rogers, winning by split decision.

Wilde, a team-mate of Edwards, was outwrestled in the first round but got the better of the striking exchanges in round two and three to convince the judges of victory.

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