Fabian Edwards punched his ticket to the 2025 PFL middleweight finals Friday night with an impressive decision win over Josh Silveira at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Edwards (15-4), the younger brother of former UFC champion Leon Edwards, used strong boxing and takedown defense to outlast Silveira (14-5) in a competitive semifinal matchup. All three judges scored the three-round contest 29-28 for Edwards, who will move on to face Dalton Rosta (11-1) on Aug. 21.
It’s a significant result for Edwards, who challenged Johnny Eblen for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship in 2023 and 2024, coming up short both times. At 32, he is still one of the top competitors at 185 pounds despite those two losses to the champ. He earned his way to Friday’s semifinals matchup by defeating 2023 PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay.
Rosta, of Pennsylvania, earned his way to the finals 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 semifinal against Valentin Moldavsky ended in a no-contest after the bout was called late in the first round due to an accidental groin strike. Per PFL rules, judges scored the no-contest strictly for advancing purposes and sided with Romanov.
Light heavyweights Antonio Carlos Jr. (18-6) and Sullivan Cauley (8-1) also advanced. Cauley did so as a significant underdog against former Bellator MMA champion Phil Davis. Cauley hurt Davis multiple times en route to a unanimous decision via scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
