Daniel Cunningham
This past Saturday in the main event of PFL Pittsburgh, we saw a potential title eliminator in the middleweight division. Former champion Johnny Eblen (17-1) was looking to bounce back after he suffered his first career loss as he took on promotional newcomer Bryan Battle (12-3, 1 NC).
Battled entered the SmartCage coming off two straight first round finishes in Dirty Boxing and before being released by the UFC, he had gone 7-1, 1 NC in nine fights. He was expected to be a solid bounce back challenge for Eblen on Saturday night.
That said, nobody told that to Johnny Eblen. The former champion moved forward with little respect for Battle. Once he got ahold of Battle, he repeatedly slammed him to the ground with massive takedowns. Battle would get up only to get slammed back down. Eventually, Eblen got his back and secured a first round submission win at PFL Pittsburgh.
It doesn’t get more emphatic than that and without question, Johnny Eblen should be next for champion Costello Van Steenis (18-3). Van Steenis defended his title successfully the week prior to Eblen’s dominant win over Battle. These two had a close first fight with Van Steenis pulling out a late submission. Only makes sense that the PFL runs this one back.
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