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(Exclusive) Johnny Eblen Talks Career Plans, PFL Super Fights PPV

The Bellator middleweight king will attempt to defend his title for a third time on Saturday.

Drew Beaupre

(Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Undefeated Bellator Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen spoke to MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré ahead of his rematch with Fabian Edwards, which will take place on the PPV portion of a huge PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

From London To Riyadh

The rematch between Eblen and Edwards was originally set to headline Bellator Champions Series: London last month before being pushed to the Battle of the Giants card on October 19.

“There was no real explanation [for the event change]. It just kinda – the fight got moved, something happened to where they couldn’t do the fight in London. And they just booked us on the next possible card, which is the Battle of the Giants, October 19 in Saudi. And I’m not too upset about it. I did wanna go to London, I really wanted to go check out that part of Europe…It is what is it, I’ll have a fight in London eventually…I’m not upset, [I’m] getting paid. [I] have a fight. We’re all good.”

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Eblen may have missed out on the chance to fight in London for the first time, but “Pressure” is also excited to be part of a huge PFL card that’s headlined by Francis Ngannou’s promotional debut against Renan Ferreira.

“I’m really looking forward to it. Honestly, it’s great because it’s more eyes, for sure. I’m gonna be on the same card as Francis Ngannou and [Cris] Cyborg – definitely two people that people wanna see fight. They haven’t been in the cage in a while, so I think there’s a lot of like ‘Oh, what do they look like? I just wanna see them fight.’ And for me to be on that card, it’s exciting. I can't wait, and I've already fought in Saudi. Saudi’s great. Nothing too different for me, so I’m pretty comfortable and I’m pretty hyped to go out and fight on that card.”

PFL's Acquisition of Bellator

The PFL’s high-profile acquisition of Bellator late last year led to Eblen extending his unbeaten record against Impa Kasanganay at the first PFL vs. Bellator event in February.

“For me personally, I feel like I’ve been taken care of [since the PFL acquired Bellator]. They’re putting me on these big cards, getting paid well…Sometimes I feel like there’s a little bit too much on their plate, but they figure it out and they get it done. So it’s like ‘Eh, well they get it done.’ But it’s like, sometimes there’ll be like little times where it’s like, things aren’t perfect. But it’s like ‘Eh, it’s new.’ So it makes sense. You can’t expect a company to bang out things perfectly whenever they bring on something new. And I think with time they’re figuring it out. And eventually it’ll be a well-tuned machine.”

(Exclusive) Johnny Eblen Talks Career Plans, PFL Super Fights PPV
Johnny Eblen celebrates after fighting Impa Kasanganay during the 2024 PFL vs Bellator: Champs event at Kingdom Arena on February 25, 2024 in Riyadh / (Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

The 32-year-old is open to the idea of fully making the jump over to the PFL for the right opportunity, but at the moment he’s content with seeing out his current contract as Bellator’s middleweight king.

“I’m more just kind of sitting with the Bellator banner, because – it’s just how my pay structure is. I get paid more than winning the tournament. So it’s like, I would have to negotiate a deal for a tournament structure. And it would have to make sense for me too...I wouldn’t mind jumping into a tournament. But I’m not going to be jumping into a tournament to only make a million dollars. ‘Cause if I fight twice in one year, I’m making more than a million dollars. So that would make zero sense. Why would I fight four times for a million when I could just fight twice for a million?...Including this fight, I have four fights left on my contract. So it’s like ‘Okay, what do we do with this?’ So there’s just contract barriers that kind of keep me from being able to jump from Bellator to PFL.”

PFL Tournaments & Weight Classes

Another potential obstacle keeping Eblen from moving fully to the PFL is the fact that the promotion doesn’t currently have a middleweight division, but “Pressure” isn't against the idea of changing weight classes and has also heard rumors of the PFL adding new divisions at both 185 and 135 pounds.

“The only thing that would make sense for me, would be like changing a weight class. Under the Bellator banner though. Because it’s just how my contract is set up, because they purchased my contract from Bellator...I think that’s the main reason they put me on these collaborative cards and all this stuff, ‘cause it’s just like ‘Okay, you’re fighting twice a year. That’s all we need you for.’ It’s like ‘Okay, cool.’ But like these tournaments, [if you] go on to win it you’re fighting four times in one year. If you’re on Challenger Series you’re fighting five times. And then on top of that, if you fight, you win, and then they do another champs vs. champs [fight] – you’re fighting a s*** ton. Which isn’t bad, [as long as] you’re getting paid the right amount.”

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“I think they were speaking about opening up a middleweight division in 2025, but I haven't heard anything following up…I think they were supposed to open a bantamweight division as well. You literally have two of the best guys at the weight class. You have me at middleweight, and you have Patchy Mix at bantamweight. Literally two of the best guys in the world. We’re stuck with fighting the same people, and it’s like – the best thing they can do is like, ‘Okay, we’ll get them to fight PFL guys.’ And I mean that’s what they did with me and Impa, because Impa’s actually a middleweight...So I think they need to open up a weight class for bantamweight and middleweight."

Rematch With Edwards

Both Eblen and Edwards are only one fight removed from their first encounter at Bellator 299 last year, and if the champion can get the job done even quicker the second time around he’s not opposed to getting one more fight in before the end of 2024.

“I don’t think he’s developed much. I think the gym he’s at and the way he trains and just the fighter he is – not to say he’s not getting better, he is getting better. But he’s getting better at what he does, and it’s not much different. I think he’s gonna be the same fighter, but maybe a bit tighter, a bit quicker, a bit more cautious about what I’m gonna do. I think the only difference for me in this rematch is the way I approach it has gotta be a bit more cautious, and I’ve gotta minimize the damage and utilize a bit more of my skillset that I didn’t utilize the first time around.”

“I’m always ready to fight, bro. If I get the job done quickly and they wanna book me a month later, like let’s say Impa wins or something. Or they wanna book me super early next year with Impa, I’ll be like ‘All right cool, let’s do it.’ That’s another check bro, another fat check. And another fight off my contract…Once that contract’s up, then we can go to renegotiation and we can just play the field and see what we can come up with. It opens up – especially coming off being undefeated, beating everybody, and ‘go to free agency’ it’s a good thing. Because it’s like ‘Okay, who’s gonna put down the big numbers on the check to make me come over?’”

(Exclusive) Fabian Edwards Wants to Bring Bellator to Birmingham

Eblen vs. Edwards 2 will feature as part of the PPV main card for PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants, which takes place this Saturday (October 19) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is available to watch live on ESPN+ PPV in the United States and DAZN PPV worldwide.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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