Fabian weighs in for world-title eliminator against Gegard Mousasi

PARIS (BBC): Fabian Edwards and Gegard Mousasi weighed in as anticipation grows before their middleweight title eliminator at Bellator 296 in Paris on Friday.

The pair stared at each other intently, before exchanging friendly words and shaking hands during their face-off.

A win for either fighter will earn them a title shot against champion Johnny Eblen. Britain’s Edwards, 30, is aiming to join his brother – UFC welterweight title holder Leon – as champion. Siblings such as Anthony and Sergio Pettis, and Patricio and Patricky Freire, have all held world titles, but never at the same time across multiple major MMA promotions.

Edwards comes into the bout following two wins over veterans Lyoto Machida and Charlie Ward last year, while the Netherlands’ Mousasi, 37, last fought in June, losing the title to Eblen.

Mousasi, sporting a casual look while wearing jeans, appeared the more relaxed of the two fighters.

He is a veteran of 59 fights, with 49 wins across 20 years, and could mark the toughest test of Edwards’ six-year career, which has yielded 11 victories from 13 bouts.

Elsewhere, Mansour Barnaoui and Brent Primus both made the weight before their Lightweight Grand Prix quarter-final bout. A semi-final against current champion Usman Nurmagomedov is at stake after he beat Benson Henderson at Bellator 292 in March.

The eventual winner of the tournament, which also features AJ McKee, Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Alexandr Shabliy, will win $1m (£794,000).