5 Things You Might Not Know About Johnny Eblen

A significant rise in degree of difficulty awaits Johnny Eblen in Bellator MMA.

The unbeaten but largely unproven prospect will tangle with former title challenger John Salter in a Bellator 276 middleweight showcase on March 12 at The Family Arena in St. Louis. Eblen carries a perfect 10-0 record that includes six wins under the Bellator banner. He last competed at Bellator 272, where he put away former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Collin Huckbody a mere 71 seconds into the first round of their brief but eventful Dec. 3 pairing.

As Eblen moves ever closer to his forthcoming clash with the battle-tested Salter, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He was steered by the singlet.

Eblen was a state champion wrestler at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He went on to wrestle collegiately at the University of Missouri, where he was an NCAA qualifier in 2015, posted three 20-win campaigns and compiled an 87-24 career record.

2. Thoroughbreds surround him.

The 30-year-old Des Moines, Iowa, native operates out of American Top Team, where he has aligned himself with arguably the world’s premier fight camp. Eblen trains under former Strikeforce champion Muhammed Lawal and sharpens his skills alongside some of the sport’s most accomplished athletes.

3. He fights as if he were on salary.

Eblen tends not to waste time once the cage door closes behind him. All six of his finishes have occurred inside the first round, three of them inside of two minutes.

4. He favors for blunt force trauma.

The undefeated American Top Team representative struck three different opponents into submission in the Shamrock Fighting Championships promotion. Eblen forced Wayne Collier to tap to punches in 61 seconds at Shamrock 291 on July 7, 2017, followed suit with Raymond Gray in 2:21 at Shamrock 298 on Nov. 18, 2017 and did the same to Tyler Lee at Shamrock in 2:14 at Shamrock 310 on Oct. 13, 2018.

5. Dominance describes his run thus far.

Eblen has lost only one round as a professional. Of the 12 scorecards that have been cast in his fights, 11 have been of the 30-27 or 30-26 variety. The lone exception. Judge Jerin Valel struck a 29-28 score in his favor in his unanimous decision over Taylor Johnson at Bellator 250 in October 2020.