Adli Edwards wanted to turn a big win at XMMA 4 into an opportunity with a major promotion. And it appears the featherweight fighter has done just that.
With Jeremy Kennedy dropping out of his Bellator 277 fight against Aaron Pico (9-3), it’s Edwards (9-1) stepping up to make the save. TSN was first to report the news of Edwards’ involvement, with the fight coming just a hair under two weeks on from his most recent outing.
Edwards sat down with Cageside Press following his win over Josh Harvey at XMMA 4 in New Orleans earlier this month, and expressed his desire to fight on a bigger stage.
Noting that he “came out unscathed” — no doubt a major factor in accepting the quick turnaround bout with Pico — Edwards told us that in regards to a promotion, “I want, honestly the first one to give me a big contract, an offer, is where I’m looking at. If you’d asked me a couple years ago, maybe I’d be like ‘I need to do this or do this,’ but right now, I’m not getting younger, man, and I need to fight, and I want to get a lot of fights in still. I feel like I’m still at the beginning of my career in my mind, but we only have one short athletic life span if you will. Contender Series, yeah that would be cool. UFC, Bellator, PFL, ONE FC, dude get me some good fights, give me some good opportunities, just let me know and let me get in there.”
It’s Bellator who has come through in this case. The fact that Edwards stays light between fights, knowing that “I’ve been kind of close, on the verge of getting the call,” no doubt helped as well.
Pico, meanwhile, will be looking for his sixth straight fight in a deceptively dangerous match-up. While Adli Edwards might not be the biggest name right now, his nine wins have come over opposition with a combined record of 30-13-1. In his latest victory, opponent Harvey weighed in at 155.8lbs — for a featherweight fight, a full 10lbs heavier than Edwards. He took the fight regardless, securing a first-round submission.
Bellator 277 takes place April 15, 2022 at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA, with the following line-up:
- A. J. McKee (c) vs Patrício Pitbull – for the Bellator featherweight championship
- Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Corey Anderson – for the Bellator light heavyweight championship / grand prix finale
- Aaron Pico vs. Adli Edwards
- Timothy Johnson vs. Linton Vassell
- Rafael Carvalho vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
- Tyrell Fortune vs. Rakim Cleveland
- Kyle Crutchmer vs. Michael Lombardo
- Gaston Bolanos vs. Ali Jafri
- Bobby Seronio III vs. Calob Ramirez
- Rhalan Gracie vs. Tyson Miller
- Edwin De Los Santos vs. Alberto Mendez
- Theo Haig vs. Alan Benson
- Laird Anderson vs. JT Donaldson
- Socrates Hernandez vs. Rogelio Luna
