Bellator star Fabian Edwards plans to knockout Charlie Ward with same head kick that led his brother Leon to becoming a UFC champion.
Edwards, 29, looks to push himself one step closer to a title shot when he fights Conor McGregor's teammate Ward at Bellator 287 in Milan on Saturday night. 'The Assassin' picked up the biggest win of his career in May by knocking out MMA legend Lyoto Machida in London and Edwards looks to top that with a "clean knockout" of Ward. The Brit plans to earn himself a title shot by scoring the same knockout Leon did against Kamaru Usman in their welterweight title fight earlier this year.
"I wobbled Machida then finished him in my last one but I think I can get clean knockout over Charlie with same head kick that Leon did," Edwards told Mirror Fighting . "I throw that cross head-kick good, so if I was to go out there and do that same cross head-kick, I think that would be a better finish than my one over Machida.
Can Fabian Edwards become a Bellator champion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
"I think a finish over Charlie, who else would there be for me to fight? If I go in there and do what I know I can do, I think I can earn myself a title fight. I've been fighting guys like Charlie my whole career, those tough and aggressive guys so it'll be nothing new to me. I'm going to show that technique and fight IQ can beat those type of guys, I like forward to displaying that."
Edwards, who is ranked at No.2 in the Bellator middleweight rankings, thinks he can join Leon in becoming a world champion by the summer of next year. "I reckon about May or June of next yeah I'll be fighting for the title, but I am fully focused on Charlie," he added. "This is the hardest camp I've had, the smartest but also the hardest. The fight isn't about Charlie it's about me being the best version of me, beating whoever is in front of me."
A mural of Leon was painted in his local area of Birmingham after knocking out Usman to become just the second British champion in UFC history. Edwards joked he will burn the painting down if his face is not painted alongside his brother's with another world title win. "I have to have my face on the mural, otherwise I'm burning it down! 100 per cent, once I achieved that we'll get my face added to it. I think us both being champions would say a lot about where we've come from, just having that grinding attitude of never giving up that's made us get to this top level," he added.
