Johnny Eblen closed out his chapter with Fabian Edwards in definitive vogue.
Eblen (16-0) out-grappled Edwards (13-4) for a unanimous choice win to retain his Bellator middleweight title at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Spherical 1 began with each males exchanging leg kicks. A straight proper by Eblen stumbled Edwards again. Eblen charged ahead with a mix and stacked Edwards in opposition to the cage. Edwards broke free, however Eblen properly timed a double leg takedown and received him down. He slammed Edwards down a few instances, however struggled to maintain him down because the spherical ended.
Eblen took Edwards down early in Spherical 2 and managed him for almost all of the 5 minutes. Edwards finally made his means again up and landed a pleasant left hook in a flurry as time wound down.
Edwards regarded a lot sharper on the ft to begin off Spherical 3. Halfway via the spherical, Eblen shot for a takedown and was profitable. Eblen tried to take Edwards’ again, however Edwards defended effectively. Edwards scrambled again to his ft and landed a pleasant left. Eblen shot for one more takedown, as he stacked Edwards in opposition to the cage.
In Spherical 4, Edwards discovered a house for the left counter twice. Eblen continued to stalk him as he finally landed a takedown two minutes in. Eblen rode out again management for the remainder of the spherical, earlier than Edwards broke his grip, and charged ahead with a mix to finish the spherical.
Simply 20 seconds into Spherical 5, Edwards landed a physique kick, adopted by an unintended eye poke. Moments later, Edwards dedicated one other inadvertent foul by touchdown a low blow. The motion resumed as each fighters traded. Edwards continued to assault the physique. Eblen shot for a takedown, however was stuffed.
A drained Eblen drove Edwards in opposition to the cage with a few minute left within the struggle. Edwards broke free as his nook urged him to press ahead. This was simply Edwards’ finest spherical, however his excessive output wasn’t sufficient to take out Eblen.
#AndSTILL Bellator Middleweight World Champion & Undefeated “Stress” Johnny Eblen!
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All three judges had it 48-47 for Eblen, who has now defeated Edwards twice in title fights.
Up-to-the-minute outcomes of PFL: Battle of the Giants embody:
- Johnny Eblen def. Fabian Edwards through unanimous choice (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – for Bellator middleweight title
- Paul Hughes def. A.J. McKee through break up choice (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Raufeon Stots def. Marcos Breno through submission (rear-naked choke) – Spherical 3, 3:01
- Makkasharip Zaynukov def. Dedrek Sanders through unanimous choice (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Ibragim Ibragimov def. Nacho Campos through unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail through submission (triangle choke) – Spherical 2, 3:51
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.
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