LONDON – [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] got the nod from the judges after a close clash with rival [autotag]Mike Shipman[/autotag] at Bellator Europe 6, but the Birmingham native wasn’t overly impressed with his own performance.
Speaking to the media, including MMA Junkie, backstage at the SSE Arena, Edwards (9-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) picked apart his fight and admitted that his display didn’t match his level of performance in the gym leading into the contest.
“I just felt like I was waiting around too much,” he said. “I should have exploded more into certain positions and to get out of certain positions. With Mike, he brought everything I thought he was going to bring, so I’m kinda disappointed in myself. Sometimes the lights are on and you don’t get to perform like you want to perform.”
Despite being nonplussed with his performance against Shipman (13-3 MMA, 4-2 BMMA), Edwards still believed he deserved to get the nod from the judges.
“I feel like I was trying to do the damage,” he said. “I was trying to land the damaging strikes. He was trying to hold and I was trying to get separation to hurt him and finish him. I feel like I got it, or a draw, but I don’t feel like he got it because, even on the floor, he wasn’t trying to end the fight. he wasn’t trying to land big strikes on the floor or anything like that. I’ll have to watch the fight back and I’ll see again, but all my team think I won it, so (expletive) it.”
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With the rivalry still very much intact between the pair after a hotly contested result, talk of a rematch has already started. And while Edwards shut down the notion of facing Shipman in a return bout in his next outing, he did leave the door open for the pair to face off again, suggesting his home town as the ideal location for a rematch.
“Everyone’s told me he doesn’t deserve a rematch, so let’s let him get one or two (wins) or whatever and then let’s play it out back in Birmingham as a main event,” he said. “That’ll be something that I think the Birmingham fans will enjoy.”
Another bout that was floated during the press conference was a potential matchup with the night’s main event winner – and Shipman’s London Shootfighters teammate – Michael Page, who was involved in the scuffle after Edwards and Shipman clashed at the ceremonial weigh-ins. Edwards said he’d be happy to entertain another all-English showdown, but only at middleweight.
“There’s no beef on that side, that’s been squashed,” he said. “If he comes up to middleweight then yeah. But I’d have to cut off an arm and a leg to make welterweight, so that ain’t happening any time soon.”
However, Edwards has his sights set on a different opponent for his next matchup – the only other man to defeat Shipman inside the Bellator cage, Dutchman Costello van Steenis.
“I see Costello called me out, so that’s a fight I’ve said I wanted next,” he said. “So let’s make it happen.”
By then, Edwards hopes he will have made further improvements as he looks to translate his abilities in the gym to impressive performances in the cage.
“I just felt like I wasn’t firing like I should have,” he said. “If you came up (to Birmingham) and watched my cage work, you’d be shocked. But it is what is, I’m only 9-0. I’ve only been at this sport for five years. I’m still learning and developing, which is a good thing.”