Mousasi vs Edwards

Who won Mousasi vs Edwards?

Fabian Edwards beat Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of Bellator MMA Paris, on Friday 12th May 2023 at Accor Arena in Paris.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Fabian Edwards.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

Mousasi vs Edwards stats

Gegard Mousasi stepped into the octagon with a record of 49 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws, 28 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 12 by submission.

Fabian Edwards made his way to the cage with a record of 11 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 3 by submission.

Gegard Mousasi's Bellator record stood at 7-3-0, while Fabian Edwards' came in at 9-3-0.

The stats suggested Mousasi had a large advantage in power over Edwards, boasting a 57% knock out percentage over Edwards' 36%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Edwards had a slight advantage over Mousasi, with a 27% submission rate over Mousasi's 24%.

Gegard Mousasi was the older man by 8 years, at 39 years old.

Mousasi had a height advantage of 1 inch over Edwards. Despite this, Edwards had a 4-inch reach advantage.

Mousasi was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 46 more fights, and made his debut in 2003, 14 years earlier than Edwards, whose first professional fight was in 2017. He had fought 78 more professional rounds, 115 to Edwards' 37.

Mousasi vs Edwards form

Mousasi had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 3 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Lyoto Machida at Bellator 228 on 28th September 2019 by split decision in their 3 round contest at The Forum, Inglewood, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Rafael Lovato Jr at Bellator 223 on 22nd June 2019 by majority decision in their Bellator Middleweight championship fight at SSE Arena, London, England.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Rory MacDonald at Bellator 206 on 29th September 2018 by knockout in the 2nd round in their Bellator Middleweight championship fight at SAP Center, San Jose, United States.

Before that, he had defeated Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 on 25th May 2018 by knockout in the 1st round in their Bellator Middleweight championship fight at SSE Arena, London, United Kingdom.

He was victorious against Chris Weidman at UFC 210 on 8th April 2017 by knockout in the 2nd round at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, United States.

Edwards had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Charlie Ward at Bellator Milan on 29th October 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Allianz Cloud Arena, Milan, Italy.

Previous to that, he had beaten Lyoto Machida at Bellator 281 on 13th May 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at SSE Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Austin Vanderford at Bellator 259 on 21st May 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, United States.

Before that, he had been defeated by Costello van Steenis at Bellator Euro Series 8 on 26th September 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Allianz Cloud, Milan, Italy.

He had defeated Mike Shipman at Bellator London on 23rd November 2019 by split decision in their 3 round contest at SSE Arena, London, England.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Fabian Edwards had been fighting more than Gegard Mousasi.

Going to this contest, Gegard Mousasi had last fought 4 years, 11 months and 30 days ago, while Fabian Edwards' last outing had been 1 year, 10 months and 29 days ago.

Mousasi's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 5 months and 19 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 29 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

Edwards' last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 10 months and 4 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 20 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Mousasi vs Edwards?

Gegard Mousasi was a 4/11 (-270) favourite going into the contest, while Fabian Edwards made his way into the ring at 15/8 (+190) with oddsmakers.