Who will win the unofficial British middleweight title?
Former BAMMA stars [autotag]Mike Shipman[/autotag] and [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] seemed destined to collide at some point during their careers. And, initially, it looked like that collision might come in a BAMMA title fight.
But former champ Shipman (13-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and former rising star Edwards (8-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) never quite met in the British promotion. But now, with both men having advanced their respective careers to the next level, they will – and, as we discovered during media day at Bellator Europe 4 in Dublin, they still don’t get along.
With the bad blood still simmering from their BAMMA days, Shipman and Edwards face off in a co-main event that looks set to deliver fireworks, with both men possessing the sort of power that can end a fight in a split-second. Both men also have underrated submission games, so don’t count out a little scrambling on the mats, too.
Shipman is looking to bounce back from defeat to Dutchman Costello van Steenis, but that defeat is his first since a loss in his professional MMA debut, and no judge has ever needed to to turn in a scorecard for one of his fights, with each and every one of his victories coming inside the distance.
Edwards, meanwhile, is undefeated and supremely confident in his ability to shut out the lights on his fellow countryman. The Birmingham native’s last outing didn’t produce the headline-making performance he had hoped for, but in the highest-profile fight of his career, “The Assassin” says he’s ready to produce a performance to match.
It’s one of the biggest domestic dustups the UK has seen on home soil in recent years, but which Brit will walk away as the unofficial British middleweight champion? It’s going to be a lot of fun finding out.