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.

This was Johnny Eblen's 11th fight in Bellator, having made his debut for the promotion in 2019.

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 1 year, at 33 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 29 less professional rounds, 42 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 John Salter at Bellator 276 on 11th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Family Arena, St. Louis, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Collin Huckbody at Bellator MMA on 3rd December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Travis Davis at Bellator 262 on 16th July 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Before that, he was victorious against Daniel Madrid at Bellator 258 on 7th May 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

He had won against Mauricio Alonso at Bellator 229 on 4th October 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula.

Activity check

Eblen's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 3 months and 11 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

Tokov's last 4 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 3 months and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 6 months and 25 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 9 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.3 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.