Johnny Eblen called himself “Diamond Hands” and then “The Human Cheat Code.” He can now call himself Bellator MMA world champion.
Eblen remained unbeaten as a pro by thoroughly dominating Gegard Mousasi for five rounds in the main event of Bellator 282 Friday night inside Mohegan Sun to snatch the latter’s middleweight title via unanimous decision on Showtime. And Eblen made it look almost too easy.
Eblen (12-0) dropped Mousasi with a sharp right hook to the jaw seconds into the fight, and he never looked back. Eblen scored takedown after takedown throughout the course of five full rounds and never allowed “The Dreamcatcher” to get his world-class striking going. Eblen traded Mousasi jabs for right hooks and leg kicks for takedowns. As the fight wore on, Eblen got stronger and more dominant, while the defending champion withered and looked every bit 36 years of age.
Mousasi (49-8-2) has beaten a who’s who of combat sports over the course of his illustrious career and captured world titles for Strikeforce, Bellator and countless others, but the relatively unknown Eblen never let any of the Dutch fighter’s legacy deter him. Eblen implemented a perfect game plan, and his dominance of one of the best fighters in MMA history was a thing of beauty. Eblen won by the shockingly lopsided scores of 50-45 across the board to score what was easily the greatest victory of his young career.
Chicago native Danny Sabatello talked a ton of trash leading up to his Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal battle against Leandro Higo, and he backed it up. Too bad for the fight fans watching the matchup, the fight was anything but memorable. Sabatello (13-1) landed a few leg kicks and jabs here and there, but the overwhelming majority of the fight saw him take Higo down, avoid the arm-in guillotine and do some damage inside the Brazilian’s guard. “The Italian Gangster” scored 11 takedowns and avoided 11 guillotines over the course of five rounds, causing the crowd to boo mercilessly for nearly the entirety of the 25 allotted minutes. Sabatello dominated Higo (21-6) and won a lopsided unanimous decision with scores of 49-46 across the board and will move on to face interim bantamweight titleholder Raufeon Stots in the tournament’s semifinals.
In the first bout of the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Friday, it was Magomed Magomedov who prevailed against Enrique Barzola during a grueling war of attrition. Barzola (18-6-2) landed plenty of stinging punches to the head and scored a number of takedowns in the bout, but over time, Magomedov’s pressure and endurance was too much for the Peruvian to overcome. Barzola seemed to largely be in control of the action throughout, but Magomedov (19-2) began landing crushing hooks to the body and scattered punches upstairs, some of which hurt Barzola late in the third. Barzola backed the Russian off early in the fourth with two stiff jabs, but when his ensuing takedown attempt was stuffed, “Tiger” snatched up a guillotine, dropped down to his back and locked it in. Barzola couldn’t escape and bowed at at 1:27 of the stanza, allowing Magomedov to head to the tournament’s semifinals against Patrick Mix.
Brennan Ward was gone from MMA for five years but returned with a win a few months back and was looking to continue to build upon his comeback from drug addiction. Against Kassius Kayne (12-8), it was fairly easy for “Irish” Brennan as he stopped his welterweight foe in the second. Ward (16-6) staggered Kayne with left hooks twice in the first round and dominated him with punches and elbows on the ground. Ward continued his dominance in the second as he staggered “Killa” with a left hook to the face and finished him off with punches against the cage. Referee Marc Goddard had to intervene during the onslaught, stopping the drubbing at 1:11 of the stanza.
In preliminary action, Killys Mota capped off a stellar undercard by outslugging Dan Moret over three wild lightweight rounds to win a unanimous decision (30-27 x3). Featherweight prospect Lucas Brennan took out Johnny Soto via neck crank at 3:34 of the first. Lightweight Alexandr Shabliy stopped former titleholder Brent Primus with punches at 1:22 of the second. Longtime veteran featherweight Cat Zingano dominated Pam Sorenson over three rounds for an easy unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27 x2). Anatoly Tokov knocked out Muhammad Abdullah with punches at 2:28 of the first at middleweight. Sabah Homasi torched Maycon Mendonca with one punch in just 58 seconds of their welterweight encounter. Ilara Joanne outpointed Alejandra Lara via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27 x2) at flyweight. James Gonzalez upended fellow featherweight Cody Law via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 30-26). Middleweight Aaron Jeffery took out Fabio Aguiar via knee and punches at 3:30 of the second. Mandel Nallo blasted out Bryce Logan with a single blow in just 67 seconds of their lightweight tussle.
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