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, employed solid boxing and takedown defense to overcome Silveira (14-5) in a competitive semi-final. All three judges scored the three-round bout 29-28 in favor of Edwards, who will face Dalton Rosta (11-1) on August 21st.
This is a significant result for Edwards, who in 2023 and 2024 challenged Johnny Eblen for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship, coming up short on both occasions. At 32 years old, he remains one of the best competitors at 185 pounds, despite those two losses to the champion. He earned his place in Friday’s semifinals after defeating the 2023 PFL light heavyweight champion, Impa Kasanganay.
Rosta, from Pennsylvania, secured his spot in the final with a split decision victory over Aaron Jeffery on Friday.
Also on Friday, heavyweights Oleg Popov (21-2) and Alexandr Romanov (19-3) advanced to the 2025 finals. Romanov did so under unique circumstances, as his semi-final against Valentin Moldavsky ended in a no-contest after the bout was stopped at the end of the first round due to an accidental groin strike. According to PFL rules, the judges scored the no-contest strictly for advancement purposes and leaned towards Romanov.
Light heavyweights Antonio Carlos Jr. (18-6) and Sullivan Cauley (8-1) also advanced. Cauley did so as a clear underdog against former Bellator MMA champion Phil Davis. Cauley hurt Davis several times en route to a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
