Mike Shipman vows to 'break' Fabian Edwards at Bellator London: 'He'll regret calling me out'

Mike Shipman has vowed to ‘break’ Fabian Edwards when the two meet in their grudge match at Bellator London.

Edwards vs Shipman serves as the chief undercard fight when the MMA show returns to the capital on 23 November as the two look to settle an old beef that has lingered since their days coming up through UK promotion BAMMA.

The two highly-rated English middleweights came face-to-face for the first time in a tense stare-off in September where Shipman says Edwards continued to run his mouth – something he has had to get used to.

“When I signed for Bellator, he said I was running from him," Shipman told Standard Sport. "When he got signed over for Bellator, that’s when it started looking like we were on a collision course. He’s just been running his mouth for a couple of years and now I finally get to do something about it.”

Shipman insists the undefeated Birmingham fighter talks a far different game when they stood face-to-face, claiming the confident persona that feeds through on social media quickly disappears.

“He’s not fond of me, it’s the same vibe I get every time I see him in person, that he’s not as brave or loud as he is on social media. He likes to talk on social media more than me. I’m not the kind of guy who enjoys that, I’ve got better things to do with my time than this kind of back and forth unless something is going to happen.

“When we were signed to different promotions, it was impossible for us to fight, so I didn’t really entertain it. Now I’m happy to do it. Now he’s got what he asked for and I’ll make him regret it.”

Edwards comes into the contest on a hot streak with an undefeated record and ambitions of crashing the Bellator middleweight title scene next year.

Shipman however will enter the cage for the first time since his defeat to Costello van Steenis at Bellator’s last visit to the capital in July.

It was the Londoner’s first defeat in six years and snapped a 13-fight winning streak. But having taken lessons from that loss and made slight changes to his body management in fight camp, Shipman is now grateful for the experience. The incentive of knocking out someone he has zero time for in Edwards has also helped the healing process.

“A loss is never fun but it is part of the game, it’s not something you put to the back of your mind it is something you take head on. You learn from it, otherwise it a wasted experience.

“It’s a painful experience, but an important and humbling one to have. I would never choose to have it happen but it was one I had to face up to and learn from. At the end of the day, I have to be grateful for the experience and make sure it doesn't happen again - certainly not to a p**** like Fabian.”

While Edwards has established himself as one of the best emerging fighters in the UK, Shipman says he can pick holes in his game and isn’t ‘overly alarmed’ by what ‘The Assassin’ is bringing on 23 November.

“There’s a couple of places where he’s dangerous but everywhere else I feel like I’m better than him. He has a dangerous left kick and a dangerous back take. He’s patient; if you lean in off balance he'll catch you, he’s opportunistic but if I put a patient, aggressive game on I don’t think he can live with me.

“I’m going to break him, I’m better everywhere. It’s not about exploiting weaknesses it’s about playing to my strengths and sticking to the game plan.”

Tickets to Bellator London are on sale and can be purchased online from axs.com/uk and Bellator.com

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