Bellator middleweight Fabian Edwards has insisted that he is not putting Gegard Mousasi on a pedestal ahead of their crunch fight in Paris next month.
The former UFC star lost his 185lb title back in June of last year, and looks to begin his third run towards the gold in the MMA promotion with a victory over Edwards. But the Brit, whose brother is the UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, is forging his own path and promises that he won't be treating Mousasi as a legend of the sport when they fight.
Edwards defeated Lyoto Machida in London last May before winning a comfortable decision over Charlie Ward in October to set up a No.1 contender fight with Mousasi. The pair will headline at the Accor Arena in Paris with the winner almost certain to face Eblen as the next challenger for Bellator gold at middleweight.
"Some of these guys have gave him too much respect," Edwards told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat. "You can see Johnny [Eblen] didn't go out there and show him that respect, he just took it to him and I think I'll do that too. People put these guys on a pedestal.
"They get the fight and then think to themselves 'oh I'm fighting Mousasi, woah' but I'll be honest and tell you I never really watched the guy. I'm just being honest, he's not one of my legends in my eyes. I didn't watch him and be like 'wow, that's the guy I'm trying to be like', so I don't put him on a pedestal.
"He's just another guy that's going in there who I'm going to put hands on. That's just how I look at him. [In the Eblen fight] I saw the same Mousasi that we always see. He fought the same way that he always fights, pressure fighter, sticks his jab in with the odd right hand every now and then but Johnny fought a smart fight. Watch his career in Bellator, that's how Mousasi fights."
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Edwards has bounced back perfectly from a difficult few years that were ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic and other issues. After a controversial split decision win over rival Mike Shipman that many felt could have gone the other way, he was forced out for almost a year by lockdowns and lost his next two, before another year's absence.
He returned with a thudding first round knockout of the legendary former UFC light-heavyweight champion Machida, which set him up for a rescheduled showdown with Ward and now a top contender fight against Mousasi. "My mindset was that I was not leaving without that win," he explained.
"I felt like everyone wrote me off. My team didn't write me off but everyone else did, so it more proved to myself that I know the level I'm at. I knew that by any means I was winning that fight. I needed to prove to myself that I am the level that I'm at, that was the only thing."
Watch Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards live on BBC iPlayer from 5pm BST on Friday, May 12, from the Accor Arena, Paris.
