Fabian Edwards secured his spot in the PFL 2025 middleweight finals on Friday night, following a dominant 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 close semifinal. All three judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Edwards, who will face Dalton Rosta (11-1) on August 21. This is a significant result for Edwards, who competed for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship against Johnny Eblen in 2023 and 2024, although without success. At 32 years old, he remains one of the most prominent competitors at 185 pounds, despite those two defeats. 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. In addition, on Friday, heavyweights Oleg Popov (21-2) and Alexandr Romanov (19-3) advanced to the 2025 finals. Romanov did so under special 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 evaluated the no-contest bout strictly for advancement purposes and favored 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 on multiple occasions, achieving a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
