Eblen vs Tokov

Who won Eblen vs Tokov?

Johnny Eblen beat Anatoly Tokov by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the co-main event of Bellator 290, on Saturday 4th February 2023 at Kia Forum in Inglewood.

The scorecards were announced as 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of the winner Johnny Eblen.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

This contest was for the Bellator middleweight championship.

Eblen vs Tokov stats

Johnny Eblen stepped into the octagon with an undefeated record of 12 wins, zero losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Anatoly Tokov made his way to the cage with a record of 31 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 17 of those wins coming by knock out and 7 by submission.

Johnny Eblen's Bellator record stood at 11-0-0, while Anatoly Tokov's came in at 7-1-0.

The stats suggested Tokov had an advantage in power over Eblen, with a 55% knock out percentage over Eblen's 42%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Tokov had an advantage over Eblen, with a 23% submission rate over Eblen's 8%.

Johnny Eblen was the younger man by 2 years, at 32 years old.

Eblen had a height advantage of 3 inches over Tokov. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.

Eblen was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 21 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2017, 7 years and 8 months later than Tokov, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 34 less professional rounds, 37 to Tokov's 71.

Eblen vs Tokov form

Eblen remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 282 on 24th June 2022 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Middleweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten John Salter at Bellator 276 on 11th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Family Arena, St. Louis.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Collin Huckbody at Bellator MMA on 3rd December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Before that, he was victorious against Travis Davis at Bellator 262 on 16th July 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

He had won against Daniel Madrid at Bellator 258 on 7th May 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Tokov had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Johnny Eblen at Bellator 290 on 4th February 2023 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Middleweight championship fight at Kia Forum, Inglewood, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Muhammad Abdullah at Bellator 282 on 24th June 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Sharaf Davlatmurodov at Bellator MMA on 23rd October 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at VTB Arena, Moscow, Russia.

Before that, he was victorious against Gerald Harris at Bellator 218 on 22nd March 2019 by submission in the 2nd round at WinStar World Casino, Thackerville, United States.

He had won against Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 208 on 13th October 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Johnny Eblen had been fighting more than Anatoly Tokov.

Going to this contest, Johnny Eblen had last fought 1 year, 9 months and 25 days ago, while Anatoly Tokov's last outing had been 1 year, 2 months and 14 days ago.

Eblen's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 11 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

Tokov's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 6 months and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 6 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Eblen vs Tokov?

Johnny Eblen was a 7/20 (-300) favourite going into the contest, while Anatoly Tokov made his way into the ring at 41/20 (+220) with oddsmakers.