Bellator will return to Paris in May, topped by two fights with a lot at stake.
The card, scheduled for May 12 at Accor Arena, will be headlined by a middleweight title eliminator between former champion Gegard Mousasi and Fabian Edwards, promotion officials announced Thursday morning.
Mousasi (49-8-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) will look to rebound from his title loss to Johnny Eblen at Bellator 282, whereas Edwards (11-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) aims to keep rolling after back-to-back wins over Lyoto Machida and Charlie Ward.
🚨 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗠𝗔 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 🚨
Don't miss the Middleweight title eliminator between @mousasi_mma & @fabianedwards24 PLUS @sidoutlaw 🆚 France's @Mansourbarnaoui in the #BellatorLWGP.#BellatorParis 🇫🇷 tickets on sale 𝗡𝗢𝗪 https://t.co/6a89uMEuge pic.twitter.com/wu0OB8IxOm
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) January 12, 2023
In the co-main event, Paris’ own Mansour Barnaoui (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take on Sidney Outlaw (16-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) in a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal. Barnaoui made his successful promotional debut this past October when he submitted Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 287. After picking up two straight wins over Piccolotti and Myles Jury, Outlaw was stopped by Tofiq Musayev in the first round at Bellator 283.
The booking of Barnaoui and Outlaw means that A.J. McKee and Patricky Freire will be paired against each other in the fourth quarterfinal bout.
The current Bellator Paris lineup includes:
- Fabian Edwards vs. Gegard Mousasi
- Mansour Barnaoui vs. Sidney Outlaw – lightweight grand prix quarterfinals
- Davy Gallon vs. Saul Rogers
- Thibault Gouti vs. Kane Mousah
