MMA
Johnny Eblen wants Sean Strickland bout: ‘We fight each other for free’
Published
3 months agoon
Johnny Eblen (above) says a Sean Strickland fight would be
different outside the gym. | 📷: PFL MMA
Johnny
Eblen and Sean
Strickland never go easy on each other.
Eblen and Strickland have developed a strong friendship despite
training at different gyms. Moreover, Strickland frequently
campaigns for Eblen to get a
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract in the future. The
reigning UFC titleholder recently said that he wouldn't mind
putting his middleweight belt on the line against Eblen and the
latter would happily oblige.
Johnny Eblen explains why friendship would not stop a fight
with Sean Strickland
Eblen recently explained why he doesn't mind fighting Strickland
even though they are friends. He says he'd rather fight Strickland
for money since they anyway do it for free in the gym. Eblen
revealed that they go hard against each other in sparring sessions
and often use big gloves as they are both looking to land
damage.
However, Eblen clarifies that neither one is looking for a finish
if they see that the other is rocked. Having grown up wrestling
since the age of four, the interim
Professional Fighters League middleweight king is also no
stranger to competing against his teammates.
“I’d be happy to fight him,†Eblen told Ariel Helwani. “We fight
each other for free. It's not that we're trying to take away from
each other. We’re just competitors. Even when we spar, we spar
hard. It’s not easy rounds, man. We spar with big gloves because
we’re trying to crack each other. Obviously, if someone gets dazed
a little bit, we’re not trying to go in for the kill because we’re
training. But it’s just competition, man. I grew up competing
against my friends my whole life. I started wrestling from the age
of four and you wrestle your teammates all the time.â€
A welterweight
title fight headlines PFL Washington DC: Tune on Saturday, July 25
at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Eblen (18-1) knocked out Impa
Kasanganay en route to a third-round finish to win the interim
PFL middleweight title in Austin, Texas. Strickland (31-7) had
flown to Florida to help Eblen in camp at the
American Top Team.
Johnny
Eblen explains why he’d have no issue fighting Sean
Strickland despite their friendship:“I’d be happy to fight him. We fight each other for free.
We’re just competitors. Even when we spar, we spar hard. It’s not
easy rounds, man. We spar with big gloves because we’re… pic.twitter.com/WTt9stC7ho— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
July 22, 2026
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UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
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Belal Muhammad shares nasty image of Brendan Allen’s staph infection prior to UFC Vegas 122 win
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Brendan Allen was dealing with a lot more than high stakes ahead of his big main event bout this past Saturday in Las Vegas.
Allen faced fellow surging middleweight contender Christian Leroy Duncan in the UFC Vegas 122 headliner at the Meta APEX. In a back-and-forth battle, Allen was able to get the victory with a fifth-round rear-naked choke submission to earn his fourth straight win.
There were moments in the fight where Allen looked like he couldn't get out of first gear, and Allen's teammate and friend Belal Muhammad shared why that could've been — revealing Allen entered fight week with a gnarly staph infection and had to compete on antibiotics. Check out the image below, which was shown in the original Twitter post, but then switched out with a different photo.
“What people don't know is Brendan was dealing with a staph infection since Tuesday of fight week,†Muhammad wrote. “Had to get on antibiotics, still has 5 days left on them, and despite all that adversity, went out there and got the finish. Never complained, never made excuses, just found a way to win. That's the heart of a champion. Proud of my brother.â€
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Andre Fili discusses not landing extra shots after epic UFC knockout: ‘I’m a criminal, but I’m not a piece of s***’
Published
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Andre Fili knows where to draw the line.
On Saturday, Fili scored possibly the best knockout of his career, knocking out Kai Kamaka III with a head kick on the main card of UFC Vegas 122. The finish was brutal, putting Kamaka out before he even hit the canvas, but as he rushed forward to finish the fight, Fili pulled up before landing any follow-up shots, realizing Kamaka was unconscious.
At his post-fight press conference afterward, Fili expounded on the moment.
“I say this all the time: I'm a criminal, but I'm not a piece of shit,†Fili said. “I don't litter. I treat people with respect. And when I knock someone out, there's no reason to land that extra shot. He's got kids, he's got a wife, he's got a future outside of fighting. It's just not necessary, man. I hope he's OK. I didn't even really want to watch the replay back.
“Hurting people is part of the sport. I like being good at fighting. I like winning fights. I like getting paid to win fights. I like being on TV. Hurting people is a byproduct of that; it's not a driving force for me. So I'm not gonna land that extra shot.â€
Widely seen as one of the “good guys†of MMA, Fili has been a UFC veteran since 2013, and seemed to be getting emotional during his post-fight scrum. When asked about why, Fili explained.
“I poured everything I am, and everything I have into this performance, and I just really — I'm not scared of anybody in that cage,†Fili said. “Any apprehension or nerves or excitement or butterflies, it's all because I want to perform. I want to make my people proud, I want to make myself proud. I want to perform the way I know I can perform. And when it works out that way, it feels really good.
“And now I'm making enough money to where I can change the trajectory of my entire family. I come from violence and drug abuse and poverty. I live below the poverty line in America, which I know is different from being in some of these other countries, but it's below the poverty line nonetheless, and I'm here to break some generational curses. This shit's hard work.â€
UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
Belal Muhammad shares nasty image of Brendan Allen’s staph infection prior to UFC Vegas 122 win
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UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
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