By The Numbers: Fabian Edwards vs. Charlie Ward

All the necessary pieces appear to be in place for Fabian Edwards to make some serios waves in the Bellator MMA middleweight division.

“The Assassin” will toe the line against SBG Ireland’s Charlie Ward in the Bellator 287 co-main event on Saturday at Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Italy. Edwards—the younger brother of current Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder Leon Edwards—has rattled off five victories in seven appearances since he joined the Scott Coker-led promotion in 2019. He last competed at Bellator 281, where he cut down Lyoto Machida with an elbow strike and follow-up punches in the first round of their May 13 encounter. Ward, meanwhile, steps into the cage on a three-fight winning streak. He has compiled a 7-1 record in Bellator.

As Edwards and Ward inch closer to their forthcoming battle at 185 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

29: Years of age for Edwards, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 24, 1993.

3: Edwards victories by submission, accounting for 30% of his career total (10). His methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes and one armbar. Edwards holds four other victories by knockout or technical knockout (40%) and three more by decision (30%).

60: Seconds needed for Edwards to bury Claudio Conti with a body kick under the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts banner on May 12, 2018. More than four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

16: Rounds completed by Edwards as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on five different occasions and carries a 3-2 mark in those bouts.

.857: Cumulative winning percentage between the two opponents—Austin Vanderford and Costello van Steenis—who have beaten Edwards. They boast a combined record of 24-4.

41: Years of age for Ward, who was born on Dec. 17, 1980 in Portlaoise, Ireland.

6: Ward wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 60% of his career total (10). His list of Bellator victims: Kyle Kurtz, Justin Moore, Jamie Stephenson, Martin Hudson and John Redmond. Ward owns four other wins by decision (40%).

1,071: Days since Ward last experienced a setback. Pietro Penini was the perpetrator, as he took a unanimous decision from the Irishman at Bellator “MVP vs. Melillo” on Nov. 23, 2019.

1: Sub-minute finish on the Ward resume. He punched out the aforementioned Stephenson in 34 seconds as part of the Bellator 217 undercard in February 2019.

49: Combined victories between the four opponents—Penini, Galore Bofando, Abdul Razak Alhassan and John Phillips—who have defeated Ward. They sport a cumulative .681 winning percentage at 49-22-1.