The chance to bring a second world championship home for the Edwards family is a “big motivating factor” for middleweight Fabian Edwards, he told Cageside Press on Wednesday. “It’s huge.”
Edwards (11-2) is the brother of UFC welterweight champion Leon “Rocky” Edwards, and is a year younger while competing a weight class higher. This Friday at Bellator 296 in Paris, France, he faces off with ex-champ and longtime mixed martial arts star Gegard Mousasi.
The winner is widely expected to get the next crack at current champ Johnny Eblen.
“I’m trying to make that history, and that’s it. I’m trying to make that history, and like you say I’m two steps away from it,” Eblen said regarding the motivation of being part of a sibling championship duo. “Friday night, after I do my job I’ll be one step closer, and yeah I’m locked in for it.”
At that point, Edwards agrees that he and brother Leon would be the greatest sibling duo in MMA history. “When I bring it home, definitely. When I bring that belt home, I don’t see you can say otherwise. I don’t think it’s been done at the same time in different organizations. When I make that history, you can therefore claim that.”
Opponent Mousasi has seemingly been around the sport forever, at least in combat sports terms. A veteran of PRIDE, Strikeforce, and the UFC, the Dutch star is still the right side of 40 despite two decades in the sport. Yet regardless of his legacy, Mousasi wasn’t someone Fabian Edwards was watching as he got his start in MMA.
“I wasn’t watching him, to be honest. I wasn’t watching him. I was mostly watching the guys in the gym,” said Edwards. The footage that was played included fighters like Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva. “I more locked onto Silva because of his flashy style.”
Watch the full Bellator 296 media day appearance by Gegard Mousasi above.
