Fabian Edwards secured his place in the PFL 2025 middleweight finals on Friday night, following an impressive decision victory over Josh Silveira at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Edwards (15-4), younger brother of former UFC champion Leon Edwards, proved his worth with solid boxing and takedown defense, outperforming Silveira (14-5) in a closely contested semifinal bout. All three judges agreed in awarding Edwards the victory with a score of 29-28. Now, Edwards will face Dalton Rosta (11-1) on August 21st.
This result is significant for Edwards, who previously competed against Johnny Eblen for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship in 2023 and 2024, although he did not achieve victory on either occasion. At 32 years old, he remains one of the most outstanding competitors in the 185-pound category, despite those two defeats.
His path to Friday’s semi-finals included a victory over Impa Kasanganay, PFL light heavyweight champion in 2023.
For his part, Rosta, from Pennsylvania, secured his place in the final after a split decision victory over Aaron Jeffery on Friday.
In other Friday results, heavyweights Oleg Popov (21-2) and Alexandr Romanov (19-3) also advanced to the 2025 finals. Romanov secured his spot under particular circumstances, as his semifinal against Valentin Moldavsky ended in a no-contest due to an accidental groin strike in the first round. According to PFL rules, the judges made a decision to advance Romanov.
In addition, light heavyweights Antonio Carlos Jr. (18-6) and Sullivan Cauley (8-1) secured their spot. Cauley, who was the underdog against former Bellator MMA champion Phil Davis, achieved a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28, after having hurt Davis on several occasions.
