Saturday’s PFL Battle of the Giants card live on DAZN Pay-Per-View, is home to three title fights.
One of those is for the Bellator middleweight title with defending champion Johnny Eblen once again facing Fabian Edwards, the brother of former UFC welterweight champion Leon.
It will be over a year since the two first went head-to-head at Bellator 299 in Dublin for the same belt, and ahead of this rematch, DAZN looks back at what happened on that fateful night in the Irish capital.
Eblen vs. Edwards: What happened in the first fight?
Round 1
Eblen was not holding back in the build-up to his meeting with Edwards, and he vowed to rearrange his opponent’s face with his fists.
Come the opening bell, Eblen was immediately looking to inflict damage on Edwards with an early strike and kick which landed.
Despite the early signs of offence from the American, Edwards looked to impose control by taking up a position in the centre of the cage, and while Eblen attempted a takedown, Edwards resisted this on the cagewall.
Round 2
Eblen’s striking continued and soon enough, Edwards was knocked down following a combination.
Edwards got back to his feet, but the assault from Eblen did not stop with another takedown attempt. Edwards did leave his mark when escaping his opponent’s clutches with an elbow strike which left a cut across Eblen’s right eye.
Time was now ticking if the American was to get the win in Dublin.
Round 3
Edwards came out swinging in the opening stages with a number of left hands landing.
Suddenly an Eblen right-left combination knocked Edwards onto the canvas for the second and final time in this fight with the American seizing the opportunity to ground and pound before the referee stopped the contest.
Commentator Mauro Rananllo described Eblen’s win over Edwards as ‘a monster performance’ with the defending Bellator middleweight champion snatching the win and holding onto his title.
What was said after Eblen's win over Edwards?
Johnny Eblen
David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Speaking after shortly after Eblen's win, there were no surprise the deep cut was the focus, but he insisted it did not change his tactics inside the SmartCage.
"Part of me was like I don’t know how bad this cut is, it feels pretty bad," Eblen said.
"I just stuck to the game plan, what my coaches were telling me to do, it didn’t really change much. I just go in and fight, I didn’t really think too much about it.
"Early on we wanted to move our feet, stay on the outside, land some kicks, land some punches, see what he had for us."
Fabian Edwards
David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Ahead of the rematch in Riyadh this coming Saturday, Fabian Edwards sat down with the world's media, which included DAZN and spoke about how he places the blame on himself for the defeat to Eblen.
"It’s a fight you know, if I broke his head in half I would have done the same thing," Edwards responded when asked whether the cut he inflicted on Eblen worked against him.
"It wasn’t like he brought his level up and I got caught, I slowed down that finish and watched it a thousand times, it was my positioning.
"The position I got caught in, it was no position I should be in, technical error on my part and that’s how I look at it."
How to watch the Eblen vs. Edwards rematch?
- Date: Saturday, October 19
- Main card start time: 9 p.m. UK / 4 p.m. ET
- Eblen vs. Edwards cagewalks: TBC
Cagewalk timings for Eblen vs. Edwards have not been confirmed at the time of writing.
Can I watch the Eblen vs. Edwards rematch on DAZN?
Watch the Eblen vs. Edward rematch along with Francis Ngannou's return to the cage as he faces Renan Ferreira in the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants this Saturday on DAZN Pay-Per-View.
The card also features Cris Cyborg against Larissa Pacheco for the women's featherweight world title.
The PPV is priced at £19.99 for UK viewers to watch on any device, including Smart TV's, game consoles, phones, tablets and PC's.
To purchase and find the prices in your region click here.
Purchasing the PPV includes a seven-day free trial of all of DAZN's programming across a range of sports.
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