Johnny Eblen Defends 185-Pound Crown with Brutal KO of Fabian Edwards at Bellator 299

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗞𝗢 😱#AndStill @JohnnyEblen puts Edwards out cold with some insane ground and pound! #Bellator299 LIVE on @SHOsports 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/mF65bdDglB

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 23, 2023

Johnny Eblen’s claim as the best middleweight in the world just got stronger as the Bellator MMA middleweight champion brutally defended his title with a third-round knockout of Fabian Edwards in the Bellator 299 main event at the 3arena in Dublin.

Eblen (14-0) and Edwards (12-3) have had some bad blood in the promotion for this fight but the two had tons of respect early in the fight. Edwards led the way early with calf kicks but Eblen’s pressure along the cage made Edwards drain his energy.

As Edwards continued to defend takedowns, Eblen’s confidence continued to grow. The 31-year-old kingpin opened up and nearly paid for it after he was cut between the eyes by a sharp elbow from Edwards. The pressure was on as Eblen headed back to his corner before the third round.

With blood seeping into his eyes, Eblen saw red at the start of Round 3, the champ wasted little time putting Edwards on his back and it was all over from there. Eblen dropped vicious elbows until Edwards was unconscious only 21 seconds into the stanza.

Aaron Pico has his eyes set on a featherweight title shot and it may be hard to deny him after Saturday's performance. Pico steamrolled Pedro Carvalho in the first round behind a well-rounded performance.

Pico put his world-class wrestling on display by taking Carvalho down three times, but it was his power that stole the show. Pico dropped Carvalho before entering his guard, where he rained down elbows that forced a stoppage with two minutes remaining in the round. Fresh off the heels of his second straight win, Pico (12-4) called for a title shot.

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On paper, heavy-handed Sinead Kavanagh’s matchup with undefeated Sara Collins should’ve been an interesting display of thunderous striking pitted against high-level grappling, but neither was shown. Kavanagh and Collins cautiously circled each other for 15 minutes and found few moments throughout the chess match.

Despite having the heavier hands, Kavanagh’s caution allowed Collins to dictate the pace over the final two rounds and eke out a tight split decision in front of the pro-Kavanagh crowd (29-28, 28-29, 28-29). Collins worked behind the jab and lateral footwork to keep Kavanaugh out of range and it was enough to improve her record to 5-0.

Featherweight Daniel Weichel hung his gloves up after 57 fights over 21 years after dropping a unanimous decision against Mads Burnell (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). Weichel had his moments, but Burnell looked as sharp as ever as the Denmark native picked up his second straight win.

Levan Chokheli may find himself on SportsCenter after delivering a highlight-reel knockout to the chin of Sabah Homasi in their welterweight clash. Chokheli (13-2) came in on a two-fight winning streak, looking to push his way up the 170-pound standings. He succeeded in an unforgettable way.

Seeking to back Homasi up against the fence, Chokheli threw up a snapping front kick that barely missed its mark, but clearly made him uncomfortable. Before Homasi could get the timing on the kick, Chokheli immediately followed with another and cracked his man flat on the chin for the first-round knockout (1:51).

Irish fans were disappointed as local fan favorite Peter Queally’s welterweight showdown with Daniele Miceli was called a no-contest after Queally was cut due to an illegal soccer kick early in the first round.

Queally entered the bout on a three-fight losing streak but was hoping to get back on track against the Bellator newcomer. The fight had barely opened up before “The Showstopper” was dropped by Micele’s calf kick; in excitement Micele followed up with an illegal shot that cut Queally over his eye. The bout lasted a mere 26 seconds before referee Blake Grice called the contest.

In other prelim action, strawweight prospect Mackenzie Stiller improved to 2-0 after a unanimous decision victory over Chiara Penco (29-28, 29-28,29-28). Mark Ewen won his fifth straight fight with a second-round knockout of Noah Gugnon. Heavyweight Sergey Bilostenniy added a highlight knockout to his reel after catching Kasim Aras with a spinning back kick. Romain Debienne dispatched of Nicolo Solli in under a minute. Josh O'Connor picked up an impressive decision win (30-27, 30-26, 30-26) over Irishman Kenny Mokhonoana. Asael Adjoudj may have lost his pro debut but he’s been on fire since, picking up a seventh straight win with a unanimous decision nod (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) over Ibrahim Al-Faqih Hassan. Attila Korkmaz took the decision out of the judges' hands with a stunning knockout win over Davy Gallon 23 seconds into the start of Round 3. Featherweight Otto Rodrigues silenced the Dublin crowd with a second-round arm triangle over Brian Moore (1:31). Ireland’s Darragh Kelly brought the hometown crowd to its feet with a third-round TKO over Jelle Zeegers (3:32). Khasan Magomedsharipov notched his ninth straight win with a brabo choke on Piotr Niedzielski in featherweight action. Luca Poclit (10-1) wasted little time on the ground with Roman Faraldo, picking up his second straight finish via brabo choke in the first round (2:18). Ciaran Clarke’s (8-0) undefeated start continued after the Irish featherweight sunk in an arm triangle on Przemyslaw Gorny midway through Round 2 (2:52). Middleweight Gregory Babene moved to 5-0 in Bellator after submitting Charlie Ward in the first round (1:03). Jay-Jay Wilson eked out the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision win over lightweight veteran Mansour Barnaoui (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).