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Bellator MMA champion Johnny Eblen suffers nasty cut at Bellator 299
Bellator MMA champion Johnny Eblen is headed home from a successful defense against Fabian Edwards with one of the most gruesome souvenirs. This past Saturday, Eblen got a third-round KO of Edwards at Bellator 299, but it came at the cost of his flesh. Let us explain.
Eblen had Edwards up against the cage in the second round when the Bellator champion hit the challenger with an elbow. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, the ‘Assassin’ responded with an elbow of his own, and that one cut Eblen above his eye. Not good. ‘Pressure’ got through the round, but there was some concern that the cut could enter fight-ending territory. Really not good.
After a little inspection, Eblen was allowed to continue and he went into the third round with a renewed vigor. Within seconds, the American Top Team star sent Edwards to the canvas with a right hand that was followed with a series of elbows that rendered him unconscious.
Following his second successful defense, Eblen (and the rest of his team) showed off the cut in a series of photos and videos. As expected, it is gnarly.
Warning: Photos and videos below are graphic. Please proceed with caution.
Our first picture comes to us courtesy of Dustin Poirier, the American Top Team teammate of Johnny Elben, who captioned it with what the reigning champion said was ‘just a scratch’.
Bellator and Eblen then shared a video of him preparing to get some stitches.
“That’s a bad cut! Damn, dude. They could’ve stopped that fight,” said Eblen after getting a glimpse of the cut in a mirror.
You may have noticed in the video that there was an exposed vein (!) in that cut. That vein, according to Dr. David Abbasi, is the ‘supratrochlear’ vein. Had it ruptured, we may have had a different fight on our hands.
Next up for Johnny Eblen after Bellator 299
Johnny Eblen is now 14-0, with two successful defenses against Anatoly Tokov and now, Fabian Edwards.
“[I’m] very, very delighted,” said Eblen after his win against Edwards (video provided by MMA Junkie). “I’m just glad that they didn’t stop the fight and they let me continue to fight. Yeah, man. I went in there and f—king took him out. I’m a trained ass killer and when you put me in that cage, I’m going to try and take you out every single chance I get.”
As for his next MMA challenger, Eblen already had a name.
“Aaron Jeffery, you can get these f—king hands, dawg,” said Eblen. “I will whoop your ass! He’s the next middleweight, so I don’t really hate him or anything. It’s whatever.”
Jeffery recently returned to the win column with a decision against Dalton Rosta at Bellator 298 this past August.
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