Fabian Edwards doubts Mike Shipman will accept co-main call out for Bellator Birmingham

By Peter Carroll @PetesyCarrol

Coming off his concise victory over Lee Chadwick at Bellator Newcastle, Fabian Edwards has another former U.K. champion in his crosshairs in Mike Shipman. But “The Assassin” doubts the Londoner will accept his invitation to meet him in his hometown of Birmingham, England on May 4.

Bellator announced the Birmingham event during the inaugural European Series card on Feb. 9 in Newcastle.

Speaking on this week’s Eurobash, Edwards spoke of his excitement ahead of his first fight on home soil.

“It means a lot to me, I’m very excited,” Edwards told Eurobash. “I’ve always wanted to fight in Birmingham, but I’ve never had an opportunity to do it. It’s great for Bellator to do it and it’s going to be a great show. They have to have me on co-main. Let’s see who they can come with because I’m ready to go.”

Edwards immediately called for a showdown with former BAMMA champion Shipman in his post-fight media scrum and has heard that the London Shootfighter’s proponent is interested in settling their score.

“It does make sense. Someone said that he said that he wants the fight [against me], but I haven’t heard anything. I think it does make sense. I consider myself the best middleweight in the U.K., Ireland and wherever else, so I have to take out all these guys,” explained Edwards.

“Mike Shipman, some people think he’s good, so I’d like to go in there and show people that he’s not. I’m much better than these guys; I just took out a veteran with a big winning record. It’s not like he was a vet who had lost all his fights. He was a former champion with 24 wins under his belt. It would be good to take out another former champion because Shipman was a BAMMA champion as well, so it would be good to take out two champions back to back.”

Despite hearing promising things about the proposed matchup, Edwards doubts Shipman will want to face him in Birmingham.

“I think wherever they offer him a fight with me, he’ll just say no and that’s just it,” Shipman said. “I’ve been calling for a fight with this man for ages now and I haven’t heard anything off him, so let’s see if he signs. He’s talking about, ‘Let’s fight in London,’ but I’m like, ‘F*ck London! We’ve got a chance to be co-main on the Birmingham card!’ That’s a big opportunity for him,” he said.