Scouting Report: Fabian Edwards

Fabian Edwards

Born: March 24, 1993 (Age: 30) in Birmingham, England
Division: Middleweight
Height: 6’1”
Reach: 79.5”
Record: 11-2 (7-2 Bellator)
Association: Team Renegade
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: “The Assassin” is a southpaw who clearly modeled his game after his older brother—reigning UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. It involves a calm, patient style. In the striking department, he has a nice left cross that is consistently long, straight and accurate but badly lacks power. His right hand is of little concern, being inaccurate and weak. He possesses a hearty assortment of kicks to all parts of the body, whether they are front or roundhouse variations. His body kick is the best of the bunch and even resulted in a past stoppage. The clinch is simultaneously the area of greatest strength and weakness for Edwards, as that is where he throws a fantastic short elbow—by far his best strike and the same one that led to the finish of Lyoto Machida—but also where he can easily be taken down. He is fairly good at eventually getting back to his feet, though the effort often lacks immediacy. Edwards has some grappling of his own but not enough to bother most opponents at his current level unless they have grown fatigued. Still, he is difficult to beat easily, as sound cardio, a sturdy chin and solid defense allow him to stay competitive for all 15 minutes.

STRIKING

• Stance: Southpaw.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Mediocre. It has some technique, but it is soft and inaccurate.
• Cross: A very straight, technical and accurate shot with which he consistently finds the mark, but it sorely lacks power.
• Right Hook: Like the jab, it is fairly technical, but weak and inaccurate. Edwards rarely throws it.
• Left Hook: A technical shot with a nice arc and rotation, he used it to finish off Machida, though the former UFC champion was already badly hurt by then.
• Overhand Left: Non-existent.
• Uppercuts: Does not throw them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Mostly throws one strike at a time. Edwards will only throw more when an opponent is badly hurt and he senses the kill.
• Favorite Combination(s): The one-two, though the jab is more nuisance than weapon.
• Leg Kicks: Solid power and technique, but they can be somewhat telegraphed out of his upright stance.
• Body Kicks: Possesses considerable power and otherwise quite solid. He used one to stop Claudio Conti in 2018.
• Head Kicks: Whether the roundhouse or the front, they have excellent flexibility, technique and power. However, they lack a setup and are not quite fast or sudden enough to work at his current level.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Edwards is a solid but unspectacular striker. There is little to worry about from his right hand, whether it is the jab or the hook, as both are weak and inaccurate. He possesses a stout left cross with almost every quality one would want: long, straight, technical and accurate. However, it desperately lacks power. His left hooks are at least decent, but they are difficult to measure, especially as fairly new additions to his repertoire. Edwards’ kicks are all different degrees of good and represent his best weapons, though only the body kick appears to do major damage. He leans on sound defense and moves well, especially in his last few fights, where he has added circling to his arsenal. He is tough to dominate in the striking realm, even though he is not overwhelming there himself.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Satisfactory, but he can absolutely be outmuscled and repeatedly picked up and taken down by good grapplers, which was evident against Austin Vanderford.
• Technique: Frames, angles off well and pushes opponents away at the right time.
• Knees: Throws an accurate shot to the body.
• Elbows: Tight, nifty and hard elbow. He badly hurt Machida with one, resulting in an eventual knockout.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Excellent.

Edwards can be taken down in the clinch by grapplers, but if they do not succeed in doing so, he becomes highly dangerous thanks to a tremendous short elbow. He can also connect with solid knees to the body at close range.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Limited, rather slow, predictable and easy for almost anyone at this level to stuff.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Utilizes some remedial skills. He managed to score with an inside trip against a badly winded Costello van Steenis. Whether or not he could have executed against a fresh opponent remains in question.
• Takedown Defense: Quite good at defending shots in space and angles off well, even repeatedly stuffed Vanderford. However, he remains much more vulnerable in the clinch, where Vanderford took him down repeatedly with a double-leg and did so without much resistance.
• Ability to Return to Feet: He can hip escape and post up to wall walk but lacks immediacy.
• Submissions: Executed a few submissions early in his career, but they likely would not work at his current level. His back takes are loose at times, and opponents can easily reverse into him.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Controls the biceps and moves his head away from potential ground-and-pound well. However, his lone submission threat at this level was using a rubber guard and then going for an omoplata against van Steenis, which resulted in his getting slammed for his efforts.
• Top Control: Difficult to say since he rarely finds himself there.
• Ground-and-Pound: His punches are solid but often inaccurate, though he does feature some nice elbows.

Edwards has a relative weakness on the ground, though not a huge one. He has proven quite good at defending takedowns from a shot in space but is far more vulnerable to them in the clinch. Once on the ground, he defends against ground-and-pound well but offers little submission threat off his back. He can get up well enough through either posting up, wall walking or hip escaping, but it takes valuable time and can cost him rounds. He does not offer much offensive wrestling in the clinch and seems unlikely to submit anyone at his current level. His elbows make his ground-and-pound respectable.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Shows some fluidity and explosiveness to his movement, but he lacks power, especially in the clinch.
• Cardio: Fights at a measured pace but barely slows down, even late into the third round.
• Chin: Edwards has taken some solid punches to the face without showing noticeable effects from them.
• Recuperative Powers: Impossible to say at this stage of his career, as has not yet been visibly hurt.
• Intelligence: He remains calm and patient and sticks to gameplans. However, he misses opportunities to capitalize on opponent mistakes in the standup and has been known to commit a misstep or two in grappling exchanges.