SBG Ireland's Charlie Ward will fight No.3-ranked Bellator middleweight Fabian Edwards in Milan on October 29, Mirror Sport can exclusively reveal.
The pair will co-headline Bellator's return to Italy for their first shows since they were forced to go behind-closed-doors in 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.Adam Piccolotti will face the newly signed French star Mansour Barnaoui in the main event.
Ward, who trains under John Kavanagh at SBG Ireland, is a fan favourite at home, but narrowly misses out on the promotion's return to Dublin on September 23. Instead, he will reignite his feud with Edwards, against whom he was supposed to fight before being pulled out with injury back in November.
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Both men were back in action after lengthy layoffs at the promotion's May event in London at the OVO Arena Wembley. Ward picked up an unanimous decision victory over Brazilian Alan Carlos, while Edwards stopped former UFC light-heavyweight champion Machida in an explosive finish.
"The fight got announced and then a few weeks later he pulled out," Edwards said of the situation between he and Ward. "I was a bit sceptical of signing up for this fight because I'm not a fan of signing up to face someone who has pulled out, especially when he apparently knew he was injured before he took the fight.
"I just thought he was taking the p***, if I'm honest. I was coming off a couple of losses, I hadn't fought in ages, and this is how we make our money so for me to sign up to a fight he was injured for and for me to be putting in the work, I'm having to cram an eight week camp into half the time because I only had about four weeks to prepare.
"I'm after gold belts and big cheques, so for him to pull out of a fight like he did left a bad taste in my mouth. After I dealt with Machida I went after revenge, I wanted Austin Vanderford [the last man who beat him] straight away, but they've given me the path where it's Charlie, one more fight, and then a world title so I was like 'okay,' and now I know what's laid out for me."
Tickets for BELLATOR 287: Piccolotti vs. Barnaoui are on sale now and can be purchased online at Bellator.com and Bellator.it
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