While the fight was confirmed during Friday’s Bellator 296 post-fight press conference by Scott Coker, the official announcement has arrived: Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards will take place at Bellator Dublin on September 23, 2023.
Promotion officials announced the middleweight title fight on Monday, along with two other high-profile match-ups. Among them, a featherweight fight between Mads Burnell and Daniel Weichel. Burnell has been calling for that fight for some time, and has got his wish.
A second featherweight fight was also announced on Monday, with Brian Moore set to take on Brazil’s Otto Rodrigues. Originally, Rodrigues was to have faced Aaron Pico in Hawaii last month, until injury took him out of the match-up.
Edwards (12-2) defeated Gegard Mousasi this past Friday in the main event of Bellator 296 in Paris, France to clinch a title shot against Eblen. Eblen (13-0) defeated Mousasi to claim the title last June, and successfully defended the belt at Bellator 290 this past February, cruising past Anatoly Tokov to a unanimous decision victory.
Burnell (17-5), meanwhile, secured a unanimous decision win over Justin Gonzalez at Bellator 295 in Honolulu, Hawaii last month to snap a two-fight skid. That saw the Danish featherweight renew his call for a Weichel fight. Germany’s Weichel (42-14) has spent the past nine years with Bellator MMA, and has been trading wins and losses for his past six fights. A former M-1 Global champion, Daniel Weichel is a two-time title challenger in Bellator, and won the promotion’s season 10 featherweight tournament.
More fights are expected to be added to Bellator Dublin at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland shortly.
