Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen has been in the news for his lavish lifestyle, including an $85,000 shopping spree with an OnlyFans model and a prank confrontation at a Home Depot, ahead of his fight with PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay.
Johnny Eblen’s life outside the cage is quite the spectacle. The Bellator middleweight champ has been making waves, and not for his upcoming fight against PFL light heavyweight champ, Impa Kasanganay. This fight is set for the PFL vs. Bellator event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this Saturday.
Eblen’s been in the news for other reasons. He raised eyebrows when he reportedly dropped $85,000 on a shopping spree with OnlyFans model Jessenia Rebecca. And just last weekend, he was filmed almost getting physical with a prankster, thanks to a setup by his manager, Brian Butler.
When asked about these incidents on The MMA Hour, Eblen played it cool. “I’ve just been balling a little bit lately,” he said, avoiding too much detail. He’s got a fight to focus on, after all.
The $85,000 figure? Eblen neither confirmed nor denied it. “That’s what they said,” he shrugged.
Then there’s Eblen’s love life. Bellator recently released a clip of the champ with another woman, sparking more gossip. Eblen just laughs it off. “There’s a few girls fighting for my attention,” he said. “They’re battling for it. It’s great to be the king and I’m going to continue to be the king, but we’ve got to focus on the fight. I’ve got to win, that’s the thing. You’ve got to stay the champ, you’ve got to keep winning, or they’re all going to just leave. Got to keep winning.”
“Just shenanigans,” Eblen continued. “It’s the shenanigans I get into. You get me out there, out in the free world, I’m bound to do something.”
And it’s not just about flaunting his wealth. Eblen almost had to show off his fighting skills when a stranger confronted him at a Home Depot. Turns out, it was his manager Butler playing a prank on him. But Eblen says it could have gone a different way.
“[Butler] got me so good,” Eblen admitted. “I had no clue, I was just shopping, trying to get this hose. My dog uses a shower, we like to shower outside. We were at the Home Depot and I was looking around and all of a sudden this guy is just standing in front of me talking and he had a mask on, I’m like, ‘What is this mask?’ it’s like the Apple Vision Pro or something like that? And then I saw a camera behind him, I was like, ‘This guy’s probably trying to film funny content, he’s probably trying to do something.’ But I didn’t know him, I had no clue who he was. I just happened to be a part of it somehow.
“So I was like, alright, he was kind of talking s***, whatever, he kept egging me on, kept egging me on, and I was leaving and then he said something smart about my girl. Then I was like, ‘Bro,’ that’s when I flipped the switch and started walking him down. He was like, ‘Brian sent me.’ I was like, ‘Brian who? Brian who?’ He’s like, ‘Sucker Punch [Entertainment].’ I was about to give him a three-piece and f****** knock him out in the middle of Home Depot. Yeah, Brian, he f****** got me good.”
Eblen recalls that the woman with him not only set up the prank with Butler, but also ensured there were plenty of cameras to capture it. He was so heated that he was “sweating” after the confrontation. He could laugh it off, but he was ready to throw hands.
Just how close was Eblen to punching the prankster? “Very close,” Eblen said. “The fact that I walked away and he told me to come back after he continued to disrespect me and my girl, I was like walking him down like, ‘OK, I’m going to throw punches.’ That’s when he said, ‘Brian sent me,’ and I was like, ‘Brian who?’ My brain wasn’t, like, ‘Why are you telling me Brian?’ Then he said ‘Sucker Punch,’ and I was like, ‘Oh s***, yeah, I can’t punch this fool, he’s pulling a prank for my friend.”