nny Eblen isn’t pulling any punches: He thinks he would smash Alex Pereira.
This earlier weekend, Eblen continued to impress, dominating Anatoly Tokov at Bellator 290 to retain his middleweight title. Following the win, the discourse quickly turned to the place Eblen matches among the many many prime middleweights on the earth, and “The Human Cheat Code” has an answer: Firmly on the prime.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Eblen made no bones about merely how good he is, saying he would utterly defeat current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
“I imagine I beat him. Ten events out of 10, I beat him,” Eblen talked about. “I’m an extreme quantity of for the person. I am a mode matchup disaster for him. He’s a mode matchup [that’s] good for me. I’ve good cardio, I can hit exhausting, I can take a punch, and I mix up the hanging and wrestling very nicely. I don’t see him beating me. There’s no method. The ability for a manner correctly I wrestle, you presumably can’t make up for that, significantly with the time that he has in MMA. There’s no method. He’s too earlier. He would have wanted to start wrestling 10 years previously. So I imagine I’m a foul mannequin matchup for him and I imagine I beat him 10 events out of 10.
“I imagine I can beat anybody on the planet. I’m top-of-the-line, if not the most effective middleweight on the planet. I can’t say for sure, factually, on account of I haven’t fought everybody, nevertheless I imagine I match up rattling correctly with every single middleweight on the earth and I imagine I can win every single battle.”
Eblen has a motive to be assured. A former D-1 wrestler for the School of Missouri, Eblen is 13-0 in his expert MMA occupation and trains out of in all probability essentially the most well-regarded gyms on the earth, American Prime Workforce. Working with among the many best fighters and coaches on the earth, all of whom converse glowingly of Eblen, has helped the Bellator champion to be completely assured in what he brings to the cage.
“All through this camp, it started creeping in,” Eblen talked about. “Like, ‘Dude, I’m getting greater, I’m getting good.’ I’m a difficulty. I’m an unlimited draw back, and I’ve nonetheless set to work on a great deal of stuff. I’m going to be further of a difficulty this subsequent camp. I’m merely getting greater exponentially and it’s getting scary. I’m seeing the trajectory and I’m like, the reality that I’m beating the s*** out of fellows correct now, it’s solely going to worsen.
“It’s not like I’ve been telling individuals who,” Eblen continued. “I doubt myself. Nonetheless the people spherical me watch me work, watch me do my issue, watch me observe, they often’re like, ‘Dude, you’re the most effective.’ I imagine that’s a vote of — I’ve self worth, in any case, nevertheless I’m going to doubt myself on account of I’m very essential of myself. Nonetheless the reality that the people I’m spending primarily essentially the most time spherical are telling me this, it really means one factor. It’s serving to me contemplate in myself, if one thing.
“I do contemplate in myself, merely genuinely, nevertheless it’s only a bit bit further, ‘OK, correctly I’m not delusional a minimal of. Completely different individuals are telling me this.’ Clearly there’s going to be some backlash about it, and plenty of persons are going to imagine I’m delusional, nevertheless I don’t really care. The people which may be spherical me primarily essentially the most and the people that basically know me are telling me really what they assume, and that’s what they’re telling me. So I’m just like, f*** yeah, let’s go. Let’s get this money.”
At current the No. 6 ranked middleweight inside the MMA Combating Worldwide Rankings, the issue for Eblen shifting forward will seemingly be, what comes subsequent? Bellator would not have a deep middleweight division and Eblen has already crushed three of the very best 5 fighters inside the Bellator rankings. Nonetheless, there’s one matchup on the horizon that Eblen believes would make sense for his subsequent title safety: The winner of the upcoming Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards battle that will occur at Bellator Paris in Would possibly. That will give Eblen the prospect to each pull off a transparent sweep of Bellator’s prime middleweights, or to run it once more with a legend of the game, and improve upon his dominant displaying of their first contest.
“I imagine the winner of Mousasi and Edwards, that’s the one which is wise,” Eblen talked about. “I imagine they’re combating in Paris in Would possibly. It seems as if a No. 1 contender battle for me.
“I merely must battle, receives a fee, and positioned on one different good effectivity. Irrespective of who it is, I don’t care. I’m ready for anybody. Like I discussed, I’m in a position to battle anybody on the earth, so I really don’t care. It may very well be cool on account of it is perhaps a particular drawback with Edwards, nevertheless it is perhaps even greater to run it once more with Mousasi, on account of I’m getting even greater so I can positioned on a higher effectivity and even finish him.”
