Tomorrow in the main event of Bellator 299 from Dublin, Ireland, the middleweight title is on the line. One of the best middleweights on the planet and current middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (13-0) will look to remain perfect as he takes on Fabian Edwards (12-2).
Edwards is the brother of current UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards and he’ll be trying to become the second world champion in the family. Fabian Edwards started out strong in his Bellator career winning his first four fights which made him a perfect 9-0 in his professional career.
However, back-to-back losses brought him back to Earth a little bit. He regrouped and then started this latest winning streak. He knocked out Lyoto Machida and then won a decision over former Bellator champ Gegard Mousasi to earn this shot at Johnny Eblen.
Johnny Eblen made his promotional debut back in 2019 when he was just 4-0. After running through the division he earned a title shot last June against Gegard Mousasi. Like Edwards, Elben dominated Mousasi and became middleweight champion. His first defense came against Anatoly Tokov and he won by decision back in February.
Bellator 299 Prediction
I was very impressed with the well-roundedness of Fabian Edwards in his fight with Gegard Mousasi. Heading into the bout, we knew about the striking skills of Edwards and we knew that if the fight stayed standing, he’d have a great shot to defeat Mousasi. What I didn’t see coming was the sensational grappling exchanges from Edwards.
He’s truly shown just how much he’s improved overall. That said, will his evolution be enough to stop Johnny Eblen at Bellator 299? I personally don’t think so. I just believe that the pressure and the wrestling of Eblen is going to be too much. If Edwards can hold off the takedowns early and do significant damage on the feet, things can get interesting.
That said, over the course of five rounds, I just believe that Eblen is going to grind down Edwards to retain his Bellator title.
Prediction: Johnny Eblen by Decision