Tomorrow on the main card of the PFL Battle of the Giants, we will see a Bellator middleweight title fight. The champion, Johnny Eblen (15-0), will look to remain unbeaten and successfully defend his title for the third time as he takes on a familiar foe in Fabian Edwards (13-3).
With the PFL’s acquisition of Bellator last year, we get to see fun title fights like this on PFL cards. Starting with the champion, Eblen is actually coming off a win earlier this year when he took on PFL’s light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay. It was the toughest fight of Eblen’s career, but he still won a split decision.
His fight before that was his Bellator title defense against Fabian Edwards which came last September. In that fight, Eblen was able to score a third round TKO. He’s the big betting favorite heading into the rematch tomorrow night.
Fabian Edwards earned that title fight on the heels of three straight wins including wins over Lyoto Machida and former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi. Earlier this year, Edwards bounced back after the Eblen loss with a decision win over Aaron Jeffery to earn this rematch.
PFL Prediction
Honestly, my prediction doesn’t vary much from my prediction when they fought the first time. Fabian Edwards is a very good striker, but he’s not as elite or dangerous as his brother, Leon Edwards. I don’t think he’ll be able to take Eblen out on the feet and I also don’t think he’s going to be able to stop Eblen from taking him down.
That said, I don’t think we see a stoppage at the PFL Battle of the Giants event. I think we go all five rounds, but it’ll be a pretty lopsided decision. I’m thinking 4-1 or possibly 5-0 in favor of the current Bellator champion, Johnny Eblen.
Prediction: Johnny Eblen by Decision