Johnny Eblen believes he’s the best middleweight after becoming the Bellator champion.
This past Friday, Johnny Eblen took on the former two-time Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. The undefeated prospect snapped Mousasi’s four-fight win streak with a dominant performance that saw him get a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards. All the judges scored each round for Eblen as he won 50-45.
Mousasi had the opportunity to claim his 50th win inside the octagon, a feat unparalleled in the sport with very few athletes to ever reach near the number. He was going into the bout off a first-round finish of Austin Vanderford in Dublin, Ireland. ‘Dreamcatcher’ displayed his signature coolness and knocked out Vanderford within 90 seconds using counter-attacking prowess.
However, the same Mousasi was not seen at Bellator 282. While he was his usual composed self, he severely lacked in effective countering and appeared to not have the answer for Eblen’s right hand.
Johnny Eblen says he’s “the best middleweight in the world”
During the post-fight press conference for Bellator 282, Johnny Eblen reflected on becoming the new 185 lbs king in the promotion. Eblen expanded on a commanding victory that saw him drop Mousasi and control the fight in all aspects of the game.
He was asked whether he felt better that he left no questions unanswered than getting a knockout win that some might allege was lucky. Eblen stated that he expected the fight to go exactly the way it did and further went on to claim he’s the best middleweight in the world.
“I hurt him,” Eblen said. “I dominated the wrestling, I dominated the grappling, and I went all five rounds, and I won every single round. It just shuts up all the haters. It shuts up everybody. There’s no question I’m the best middleweight in the world.”
UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya might disagree with Eblen’s claims. ‘Stylebender’ will mark his return to action in a title defense against Jared Cannonier on July 2 at UFC 276.