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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen was less than two weeks away from a title defense against Fabian Edwards when he got word that his fight was being moved.

Just 11 days before the Bellator London card took place, Eblen’s fight with Edwards was suddenly removed from the event and eventually rescheduled for the PFL pay-per-view show on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia. No explanation was given and even Eblen admits he was never told why the change was made.

“They just moved the fight,” Eblen told MMA Fighting. “Not sure exactly what happened. I was prepared to fight in London and I was actually pretty excited for it. But you know they moved it, I’m a company man so I did what they wanted me to do. They took care of me though, so there’s no issue and now I’m ready to go fight in Saudi Arabia.”

When it comes to PFL taking care of him, Eblen didn’t disclose if that meant a payout for the disruption to his training camp but whatever happened, he was satisfied enough to roll with the punches.

While he was focused on peaking for the event on Sept. 14, Eblen ultimately shut down his training to rest his body and then pick back up again to prepare for Oct. 19 instead.

“It changed a lot,” Eblen said about his training camp. “Like I said, they took care of me. I’m not having any issues with it. I took a couple of weeks off, did some light training and then I’m going to peak again [Oct. 19] and I leave in two and a half [weeks].

“I’m in shape. Just took some time off sparring, got back into sparring this week. Just going to do a small little camp before I go back out.”

The change also affected plans that Eblen had with friends and family traveling to see him fight.

He revealed that a large group of supporters were set to attend the Bellator London card but that’s no longer the case with his title defense now taking place in Saudi Arabia.

That inconvenience may have actually served as a bigger annoyance than the interruption to his training camp but Eblen knows the crowd, his friends and family in attendance or the amount of travel involved going to the event don’t matter as much as going out and winning when it actually comes time to fight.

“I’ve already been to Saudi Arabia,” Eblen explained. “There’s just not as much to do afterwards. Less people are likely to go just because it’s so much further. London, I had a big group going. It would have been fun to hang out with them after. Saudi’s a little bit different story. Less people are going to show up to that one but it is what it is. No big deal.

“I’ve been to Saudi before, I really enjoy it. They have great hospitality. I liked fighting there last time. I don’t care [if I’m not the main event]. I get paid the same. No big deal to me.”

When it comes to his opposition, Eblen is actually facing Edwards in a rematch after they just fought back in September 2023. On that night, Eblen scored a third round knockout with both fighters picking up a single win since that encounter.

A second fight coming together so quickly probably seems odd but Eblen wasn’t totally shocked when Edwards was presented as his next opponent.

“I mean there’s nobody else really,” Eblen said. “It’s kind of the problem of Bellator at the moment and even PFL, they don’t really recruit middleweights because they don’t have a middleweight division. It is what it is.”

As far as running it back with someone he just knocked out a year ago, Eblen doesn’t look at the rematch as a potential stumbling block just because he already has a win over Edwards.

Instead, Eblen prefers to keep the focus on himself and the person standing across from him when the fight starts doesn’t really matter much in the end.

“I already beat him,” Eblen said. “I don’t really think about that. I just think about getting better. I’m not really worried about the people I fight.

“They’re just going to put somebody in front of me and that’s the person that I’ve got to fight, regardless of who it is, whether it’s a person I’ve already fought or somebody I’ve never fought. I just do my job. As long as the check clears, I’m good.”

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Mike Perry got himself into trouble when he was arrested in Clermont, Florida, on October 12 for multiple offenses.

According to a recent report by MMA Fighting, information from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that “Platinum” was apprehended and processed by Clermont Police officers early Saturday morning at 1:04 AM EST. He is currently facing charges of driving under the influence (DUI) and refusing to sign a citation that mandates a court appearance, both classified as second-degree misdemeanors in the county. 

As per the report, Perry declined to undergo a roadside sobriety test after being stopped for exceeding the speed limit by about 20 miles per hour. The officer reportedly detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle, but the BKFC star repeatedly denied any consumption.

The 33-year-old Michigan native stood firm in his decision despite being warned multiple times that his refusal to comply would result in his arrest, which eventually led to him being handcuffed and taken to the Clermont Police Department for a breath test.

However, “Platinum” was subsequently released on a $ 1,500 bond later that day and was assigned to appear before the Florida court on October 30. If proven guilty, Perry could potentially face a maximum of two months in jail and fines reaching up to $ 500.

The former UFC welterweight fighter is rebounding from a sixth-round knockout defeat to Jake Paul this past July. Aside from that setback, Perry is thriving in his bare-knuckle fighting career under the BKFC banner. He is currently riding a five-fight unbeaten streak and boasts victories over notable former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Luke Rockhold.

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• Read More: Jake Paul Reveals Verbal Agreement With Mike Perry To Rematch In PFL, Dirty Boxing Down The Line

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos, a longtime MMA veteran with appearances under the UFC and Bellator banners across 16 MMA fights, has passed away at the age of 38.

Reports about his passing were first posted by friends on social media, including longtime jiu-jitsu coaches Cristiano Lazzarini and Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes. Additional sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The cause of death has not been revealed at this time.

“Bomba” started his MMA career in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a second-round rear-naked choke win over veteran Wendell Oliveira, and joined the TUF Brazil 3 cast in 2014 following a win over Elizeu Zaleski, both fighters that eventually made it to the UFC as well.

The Minas Gerais-native went 1-1 on the reality TV show and lost his sole UFC bout via decision to Luke Zachrich in July 2014, going on to win four of his next five bouts to sign a deal with Bellator.

Vasconcelos, also known outside the MMA bubble for dating Demi Lovato in 2017, ended his MMA career in 2019, winning three of six bouts inside the Bellator cage.

“Of all the students I had, you were the bravest,” Lazzarini posted on social media. “Fearless, unbeatable. In moments of chaos, a machine. In trivial moments, a sweet boy. We had a machine that had a bit of everything. Your MMA debut, with a win against a man that had won 10 in a row and had 19 fights, was of the happiest moments of my life in the sport. Unbreakable. So many trips together, so many battles. From blue to black belt, from first to last MMA fights. Man, how much I love you. Unbelievable. Rest in peace, brother.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jake Paul is fighting back.

The social influencer turned boxer has answered a lawsuit filed against him by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing with a countersuit seeking punitive and compensatory damages along with legal fees. Paul filed the lawsuit through his attorneys in paperwork filed in the southern district of New York on Tuesday.

The original lawsuit filed by Hearn and his promotional company alleged that Paul made defamatory statements that Matchroom Boxing “bribed” Glenn Feldman — a boxing judge — “to influence the outcome of two boxing matches that he refereed.”

The boxing matches in question were the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight and a matchup between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotion represents Serrano while Hearn represents Taylor.

In his countersuit, Paul denied many of the allegations in the complaint filed against him while laying out his defense to those claims.

He then detailed his cause for the countersuit against Hearn and Matchroom Boxing while claiming that the original lawsuit filed was an “intimidation tactic to chill Jake Paul’s freedom of speech and to silence other critics of the boxing industry.”

Paul is seeking “reimbursement of his attorneys’ fees, compensatory damages, and punitive damages designed to prevent Matchroom from further using expensive and time-consuming litigation to stifle the free speech of journalists, media organizations, and anyone else speaking on issues of public interest.”

In the original interview, Paul called foul on Feldman for scorecards he delivered in the Serrano vs. Taylor fight as well as Usyk vs. Joshua.

“Clearly [Glenn Feldman] is getting paid money by Matchroom Boxing,” Paul said referencing Hearn’s promotion that reps both Taylor and Joshua. “It’s just so blatantly obvious and they’re not even trying to hide it.”

Hearn and Matchroom filed the lawsuit against Paul with Feldman actually joining as a co-plaintiff.

Paul had previously filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was denied, and a pre-trial conference was set for Oct. 16.

Now Paul is actually countersuing along with a request to have the original lawsuit dismissed without prejudice.

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