Bellator 296

Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards (also known as Bellator Paris) was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on May 12, 2023, at Accor Arena in Paris, France.^[1][2][3]

Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards
The poster for Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards
Promotion	Bellator MMA
Date	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
Venue	Accor Arena
City	Paris, France
Event chronology
Bellator 295: Stots vs. Mix Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards Bellator 297: Nemkov vs. Romero

Background

The event marked the promotion's third visit to Paris and first since Bellator 280 in May 2022.^[4]

A middleweight title eliminator bout between former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi and Fabian Edwards headlined the event.^[1]

A Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal bout between Mansour Barnaoui and Sidney Outlaw was scheduled to serve as the co-main event.^[2] However at the end of February, Outlaw tested positive for banned substances and was suspended, and was replaced by former Bellator Lightweight Champion Brent Primus.^[5]

A bantamweight bout between Brett Johns and Marcirley Alves, as well a middleweight bout between Gregory Babene and Kyle Stewart were scheduled for this event.^[6] However, the week of the event, Johns pulled out due to staph infection and Stewart was not approved by the commission due to his partial myopia.^[7][8]

At weigh-ins, Steven Hill weighed in at 174.8 pounds for his fight against Nicolo Solli – 3.8 pounds over the welterweight non-title bout limit, leading to Solli to refusing to accept the bout. Romain Debienne weighed in at 172.4 lbs, 1.4 pounds over the limit, and was fined a percentage of his purse which went to his opponent.^[9][10]

Results

Main card (Showtime)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Fabian Edwards	def.	Gegard Mousasi	Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–46)	5	5:00	[a]
Lightweight	Brent Primus	def.	Mansour Barnaoui	Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	[b]
Middleweight	Douglas Lima	def.	Costello van Steenis	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Thibault Gouti	def.	Kane Mousah	KO (punch)	2	3:58
Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV)
Women's Flyweight	Denise Kielholtz	def.	Paula Cristina	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Luca Poclit	def.	Oliver Enkamp	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Saul Rogers	vs.	Davy Gallon	No Contest (overturned)	1	2:12	[c]
Featherweight	Yves Landu	def.	Piotr Niedzielski	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Catchweight (141 lb)	Sarvarjon Khamidov	def.	Kevin Petshi	Submission (rear-naked choke)	3	1:33
Lightweight	Tim Wilde	def.	Chris Gonzalez	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Fabacary Diatta	def.	Keir Harvie	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26)	3	5:00
Catchweight (150 lb)	Asaël Adjoudj	def.	Georges Sasu	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Romain Debienne	def.	Bourama Camara	KO (punches)	2	1:04	[d]
Light Heavyweight	José Augusto Azevedo	def.	Simon Biyong	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00

1. Bellator Middleweight title eliminator.
2. Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarter-Final bout.
3. Originally a Submission (D'Arce choke) victory for Rogers. Overturned due to referee error on stoppage.
4. Debienne missed weight (172.4 lb).

^[11]

See also

• Martial Arts portal

• 2023 in Bellator MMA
• List of Bellator MMA events
• List of current Bellator fighters