Edwards Outworks Mousasi, Primus Advances in Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix

The most romantic city in the world was on hand for Friday’s

Bellator 296 card at the Accor Arena in Paris.

Middleweight contender Fabian
Edwards (12-2, 8-2 BMMA) took a step outside of his older
brother’s shadow after outclassing middleweight legend Gegard
Mousasi (49-9-2, 7-3 BMMA) over five-rounds in a Bellator
MMA 185-pound title eliminator bout.

In a back-and-forth fight, Edwards proved to be slightly sharper on
the feet than the 37-year old Mousasi. Heading into the final
round, the contenders appeared to be tied on the scorecards, before
a body lock would give Edwards control throughout most of the
fifth. With the win, Edwards set himself up with a shot at Bellator
middleweight champion Johnny
Eblen (13-0, 9-0) Sept. 23 in Dublin.

In the co-main event, former Bellator lightweight champion Brent
Primus (12-3, 10-3 BMMA) advanced to the semifinals of the
Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix after grinding out a grueling
unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) over hometown hero
Mansour
Barnaoui (20-5, 1-1 BMMA).

Primus and Barnaoui opened the first round trading punches like
madmen. Someone must have forgotten to tell the two warriors that
the bout was scheduled for 25 minutes, because the two spent the
first stanza exchanging the other’s best. Barnaoui got the better
of the action on the feet before Primus reverted to his superior
wrestling in the fourth period. Taking the exhausted Barnaoui to
the ground in the final two rounds was the push Primus needed to
set himself up with a date with lightweight kingpin Usman
Nurmagomedov.

Former Bellator welterweight champion Douglas
Lima (33-11, 15-7 BMMA) moved up to middleweight, but was given
all he could handle against Costello
van Steenis.

Lima started off slow, trading leg kicks with van Steenis before
the latter finished the round with a key takedown. Sensing his
deficit on the scorecards, Lima picked up the paced and showcased
the hand speed that made him an electrifying champion. Lima
outstruck van Steenis over the last two rounds, snapping “The
Spaniards” head back with straights and stiff jabs. After three
rounds of action, Lima finally snapped a four-fight skid with a
unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Thibault
Gouti’s return to his homeland couldn’t have gone any better.
The 36-year-old former UFC fighter kicked off the Paris main card
with a bang after dispatching Kane Mousah
in two rounds. Gouti (17-6, 2-1 BMMA) brought the crowd to its feet
in the first round after dropping the Brit with a two-piece
combo.

Mousah (14-5, 3-3 BMMA), coming off a win over Georgi
Karakhanyan, came out for the second round with a fire in his
gut. “The Danger” backed up Gouti with heavy hooks and pressure.
Gouti, with his back against the fence, traded back with before
eventually landing a thudding right hook to Mousah’s jaw.

Mousah crashed to the canvas before Gouti capped off his knockout
win with a pair of hammerfists at the 3:58 mark.

After opening off the main card, Gouti called out Tim Wilde
(16-4-1, 4-1-1 BMMA) for a lightweight clash. Wilde impressed
earlier in the day with a three-round masterclass against Christopher
Gonzalez.

In other action,
Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros (8-4, 1 NC; 2-2 BMMA) snapped a
two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win over Simon
Biyong in light heavyweight action. Biyong (9-3, 2-2 BMMA)
entered looking for a third-straight win, but all he found was
Augusto’s consistent punches on the feet. Romain
Diebenne (9-4, 1-0 BMMA) missed weight for his welterweight
clash with the lanky Bourama
Camara (5-3, 1-2 BMMA) but that didn’t keep him from a highlight-reel finish in the second round
(1:04). Asael
Adjoudj (6-1, 4-1 BMMA) defeated fellow Frenchman Georges
Sasu (4-3, 2-3 BMMA) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-27). Fabacary
Diatta (9-1, 3-1) welcomed Bellator newcomer Keir Harvie
to the organization in violent fashion, battering the Scot to a
clear-cut unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). Takistan
prospect Sarvarjon
Khamidov kept his undefeated record intact (15-0, 2-0 BMMA) and
bullied France’s Kevin
Petshi (18-6, 0-1 BMMA) with relentless top pressure before
finally
breaking Petshi with a rear-naked choke late in the third
round (1:33). Hometown favorite Yves Landu
(19-9, 4-1 BMMA) defeated Piotr
Niedzielski (18-5, 1-2 BMMA) in a tight unanimous decision
above the featherweight limit. Saul Rogers‘
win over Davy Gallon
was immediately overturned to a no contest after an

incorrect ruling from referee Jacob Montalvo. Luca Poclit
defeated Oliver
Enkamp via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Former
flyweight title challenger Denise
Kielholtz cruised past
Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva by unanimous decision (29-28,
30-27, 30-27) in the lone women’s bout on the card.