Fabian Edwards endured a rollercoaster of emotions over the past few weeks after he received notification that he was being removed from the upcoming PFL middleweight tournament before eventually getting his spot back with a fight booked against Impa Kasanganay on Friday.
The whole ordeal came down to a visa issue for the British fighter traveling into the United States, where the fights are being held, but he credits his manager with getting the situation handled. Edwards admits that the situation served as a distraction, but didn’t prevent him from staying ready for his upcoming fight.
“I got the call on a Sunday saying that I’m out,” Edwards told MMA Fighting. “It was some visa issue. I had a visa issue. Not so much an issue, just the time that it took for my visa to come back wasn’t going to be back in time. But my manager, Ali [Abdelaziz], went and did his thing and sorted it out. The fact that he had to pull on his contracts to do that, I appreciate that a lot. It’s nice to have someone like that in your corner to sort it out. I’m grateful.
“To be honest, it got sorted out kind of quick [over] the span of a couple of days, but throughout the camp, it was in the back of my mind a little bit, but I just tried not to focus on it. I knew that I had to stay locked in. Regardless of whether I was going to fight or not, I had to make sure I was training properly and I done that.”
With only so many spots to fill in an eight-person tournament, Edwards is thankful that he was able to reclaim his position, especially knowing he could compete up to three times over the next few months.
“I’m happy,” Edwards said. “To be able to have the opportunity to go in there and do that, especially when last week or whatever it was, I thought it was taken away from me. I was happy to be back in. I’ve always said I want a shitload of fights and I get my opportunity to do that.”
While Edwards is satisfied with his plans for 2025, the same can’t be said for some of the other fighters on the same PFL roster.
Edwards’ former opponent and current Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen is one of a handful of fighters speaking out about long periods of inactivity, with no indication from the PFL when he might compete again.
“Still waiting on PFL for some fight news,” Eblen wrote in February, with his most recent fight coming against Edwards back in October 2024. “Haven’t heard a peep from Donn [Davis] or the PFL team. What’s going on, guys?”
Still waiting on pfl for some fight news… haven’t heard a peep from Donn or the PFL team. What’s going on guys?
— Johnny Eblen (@JohnnyEblen) February 19, 2025
As much as he’s considered Eblen a professional rival, Edwards admits he feels for his former opponent and other champions like Corey Anderson and Patchy Mix, who have also complained about long stretches of inactivity.
“It’s shit. You know what I mean?” Edwards said. “There’s no other way to say about it. It’s shit. They need to sort it out because that could very much be me. In my mind, I’m not thinking because I’m fighting, f*ck everyone else. No, this is how we make our earning, this is what we put all our time and effort into.
“To see all those guys on the sidelines for a year or over a year, it’s craziness. I just hope they can sort out what they need to sort out.”
While the PFL is planning on promoting several “champion” series events in 2025, with the first card expected to take place in early summer, there are only so many slots available, so it’s impossible to know when or if certain athletes will compete.
Edwards understands the frustration Eblen and other fighters are facing, especially with so much uncertainty when it comes to the future.
“We’re going out there and putting our health on the line,” Edwards said. “I know obviously it’s our choice, but we’re still going out there and putting it on all the line. The fact that fighters get the worst end of the stick, it’s shitty. But this is what we choose.”
Despite two past fights against each other, Edwards says he doesn’t harbor any ill will towards Eblen, and if anything, he wants the Bellator middleweight champion to get busy so they could potentially meet again one day.
There’s no way to know if that can happen or not, but Edwards wants to do his part by winning the PFL middleweight tournament, and hopefully, Eblen is open to the same idea.
“I hope they fight him soon,” Edwards said about Eblen. “I hope they fight all the guys soon. This is how we make our living. This is what we sacrifice everything for. Hopefully, they sort everything out.
“But yeah, I get through the tournament, and I will be eyeing up that third fight. I will be looking for that third fight.”
