Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen’s title defense against Fabian Edwards was unexpectedly moved from the Bellator London card to a PFL event in Saudi Arabia, disrupting his training and travel plans but leaving him unfazed as he focuses on winning regardless of the venue or opponent.
Bellator middleweight champ Johnny Eblen was gearing up for a title defense against Fabian Edwards. Then, out of the blue, his fight got moved. Less than two weeks before the Bellator London card, poof, it vanished! Suddenly, it’s rescheduled for a PFL pay-per-view on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia. Why? No clue. Even Eblen’s in the dark.
“They just moved the fight,” Eblen shrugged to MMA Fighting. He was all set for London, pretty pumped, actually. But hey, he’s a company guy. They say jump; he asks how high. They took care of him, so no hard feelings. Now he’s all set for Saudi.
Did they toss him some extra cash for the hassle? Eblen’s lips are sealed on that one. Whatever went down behind the scenes, he’s rolling with it. Focused on peaking for September 14th? Yup. Then he hit pause on training—rested up—before diving back in for October 19th.
“It changed a lot,” Eblen admitted about his training camp shuffle. But again, they took care of him. No complaints here. He took a breather, did some light stuff, and now he’s revving up again for fight night.
He’s in shape! Just eased off sparring for a bit but jumped back into it this week. A quick mini-camp is all he needs before jetting off again.
The switch-up threw a wrench in plans with friends and family too. A big crew was ready to cheer him on in London—not happening now with the Saudi shift.
That hiccup might’ve been more annoying than tweaking his training camp. Yet Eblen knows what really counts: winning when it matters, crowd or no crowd.
“I’ve already been to Saudi Arabia,” Eblen shared. Not as much to do post-fight there, though. Fewer folks making the trip—it’s just further away. In London, he had a big group lined up for after-fight fun times.
But hey, Saudi’s cool too! Great hospitality last time around; he enjoyed it there before. Main event or not? Doesn’t faze him—paycheck stays the same.
Facing Edwards again is interesting—considering they just fought back in September 2023 where Eblen clinched a third-round knockout victory.
A rematch so soon seems odd? Maybe a little—but not shocking to Eblen when Edwards popped up as his next opponent.
“There’s nobody else really,” Eblen noted about Bellator and even PFL’s middleweight recruiting woes. It is what it is.
Running it back with someone he KO’d a year ago doesn’t bother him much either. No stumbling block here; he’s all about self-improvement.
“I already beat him,” Eblen said nonchalantly. The focus isn’t on past wins or losses—it’s about getting better every day.
Who stands across from him doesn’t matter much in the end. They put someone in front of him; he fights them—simple as that.
Whether it’s an old foe or new face makes no difference to him—as long as that check clears!