Johnny Eblen seems to relish having gold draped over his shoulder.
As Eblen and Edwards approach their second encounter with one another, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
32: Years of age for Eblen, who was born on Dec. 13, 1991 in Des Moines, Iowa.
6: Eblen wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 40% of his career total (15). His list of victims: Edwards, Collin Huckbody, Daniel Madrid, Tyler Lee, Raymond Gray and Wayne Collier. Eblen owns one other win by submission (7%) and eight more by decision (53%).
848: Days spent by Eblen as undisputed Bellator middleweight champion. It ranks as the third-longest single reign in the history of the promotion’s 185-pound weight class, trailing only Hector Lombard (1,040) and Rafael Carvalho (945).
8: Consecutive calendar years in which Eblen has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2024, he went 2-0 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 1-0 in 2020, 3-0 in 2021, 2-0 in 2022 and 2-0 in 2023.
61: Combined victories between the three men—Kasanganay, Edwards and Anatoly Tokov—Eblen has defeated as Bellator champion. They sport a cumulative .860 winning percentage at 61-10.
31: Years of age for Edwards, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 24, 1993.
3: Edwards victories by submission, accounting for 23% of his career total (13). His methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes and one armbar. Edwards holds four other victories by knockout or technical knockout (31%) and six more by decision (46%).
60: Seconds needed for Edwards to put away Claudio Conti with a body kick under the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts banner on May 12, 2018. More than six years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
37: Rounds started by Edwards as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on eight different occasions and carries a 6-2 record in those bouts.
.891: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Eblen, Austin Vanderford and Costello van Steenis—who have beaten Edwards. They boast a combined record of 41-5.