A pair of ranked middleweight prospects will collide at Bellator 259.
MMA Junkie was first to report that No. 3 ranked middleweight Austin Vanderford will fight No. 4 Fabian Edwards at Bellator 259 on May 21. The winner could see themselves next in line for a shot at champion Gegard Mousasi.
Vanderford (10-0) was victorious in his only fight in 2020. He mauled Vinicius de Jesus at Bellator 251 in November to win a dominant unanimous decision. The rising middleweight was scheduled to fight Daniel Madrid two months prior but tested positive for COVID. Vanderford did stay somewhat busy during 2020 by competing in Submission Underground three times.
Edwards (9-1) will be trying to ruin Vanderford’s perfect record when they meet. “The Assassin” only fought once in 2020 as well, losing a split decision to Costello van Steenis at Bellator Euro Series 8 in September. The loss to Steenis snapped his undefeated streak, which included a nine-fight winning streak; four wins came inside of Bellator promotion.
Bellator 259 is expected to occur on May 21, 2021, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
With the newest addition to the card, the Bellator 259 fight card now looks like this:
- Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith – for the Bellator women’s featherweight title
- Austin Vanderford vs. Fabian Edwards
- Brett Johns vs. Matheus Mattos
- Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Adam Piccolotti
- Christian Edwards vs. Ben Parrish
