Fabian Edwards has endured a rollercoaster of emotions over the past few weeks after receiving notification that he had been removed from the upcoming PFL middleweight tournament after regaining his spot in a fight with Impa Kasanganai on Friday.
The whole ordeal came down to visa issues for British fighters traveling to the US, where the battle is being held, but he believes he handled the situation to his manager. Edwards admits that the situation is distracting, but it didn’t prevent him from preparing for future battles.
“I got a call saying I was out on Sunday,” Edwards told MMA Fighting. “It was a few visa issues. I had visa issues. It wasn’t that much and the time it took for my visa to return was never going back to time. But my manager, Ali (Abderaziz), went and sorted it out.
“To be honest, it was quickly (and more) sorted out over the course of a few days, but it was a bit behind my mind throughout the camp, but I tried not to concentrate on it, I knew I had to be locked up.
Edwards had only a huge number of spots to fill the eight-man tournament. I am particularly grateful that he was able to regain his position knowing he could compete up to three times in the coming months.
“I’m happy,” Edwards said. “I thought it was taken away from me, especially to make sure I could go there and have the opportunity to do it, whatever it was, and I was happy to be back.
Edwards is happy with his plans for 2025, but the same cannot be said for some of the other fighters on the same PFL roster.
Edwards’ former enemy and current Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen is one of the few fighters who have spoken out about long-term inactivity, with no indication from the PFL when he may compete again.
“We’re still waiting for some fight news in the PFL,” Eblen said in February, with a recent fight with Edwards in October 2024.
Still waiting for some fight news in the PFL… I’ve never heard any peeps from Donn or the PFL team. what happened?
– Johnny Eblus (@jeohnnybelen) February 19, 2025
As far as he considers Eblen’s professional rival, Edwards admits he feels his previous opponent and other champions like Corey Anderson and Patch Mix.
“That’s shit. Do you know what I mean?” Edwards said. “There’s no other way to say it. It’s shit. They need to sort it out because it can be very me. In my mind, I’m fighting so I’m not thinking about it.
“When you look at every person on the sidelines for a year or more, it’s insane. I hope they can sort out what they need to sort out.”
The PFL plans to promote several “Champion” series events in 2025, with the first card set to take place in early summer, but there are only a lot of slots available. Therefore, it is impossible to know when a particular athlete will compete.
Edwards understands the frustration facing Ibren and other fighters, especially with so much uncertainty, that he is aware of the frustration he faces.
“We’re out and putting our health in the rankings,” Edwards said. “We know that’s obviously our choice, but we’re still out there and putting it on all the lines. The fact that fighters get the worst edge of the stick, that’s crappy. But this is what we choose.”
Edwards says he has no ill will towards Eblen, despite his previous two fights, and if there is, he wants to be busy with the Bellator middleweight champion so that he can meet again someday.
There’s no way to know if that happens or not, but Edwards wants to do his part by winning the PFL middleweight tournament.
“I hope they’ll fight him soon,” Edwards said of Eblen. “We hope they will fight everyone right away. This is how we live. This is what we sacrifice for everything. Hopefully, they will sort it all out.
“But yeah, I’ll get through the tournament and see that third fight. I’m looking for that third fight.”