Scouting Report: Johnny Eblen

Johnny Eblen

Born: December 13, 1991 (Age: 31) in Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Division: Middleweight
Height: 6’1”
Reach: 74”
Record: 12-0
Association: American Top Team
Stage of Career: Still Improving or Prime
Summary: Eblen began as an outstanding wrestler, able to consistently take opponents down and with good cardio but little else. However, he has gradually become a complete martial artist, first improving his top control and ground-and-pound and then developing into a good striker, with powerful kicks to the legs and body, and an effective right cross and left hook. He also throws punches in bunches very nicely. At this point, he is like a middleweight version of Kamaru Usman, only younger; few can resist his wrestling attack and cardio, but he is increasingly good and very difficult to exploit standing, as well.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Okay; solid mechanics and power, but is definitely telegraphed.
• Cross: Very good, a straight, technical, accurate, and fairly hard shot.
• Left Hook: Excellent, with a tight arc and solid speed and accuracy, but could have a little more rotation, though it was enough to floor and ultimately knock out Daniel Madrid.
• Overhand Right: Pretty good; technically solid and having some power, but a little telegraphed and slow.
• Uppercuts: Decent in the rare times he throws them, which is usually during a flurry. Look technically solid and with some impact, but hard to judge them beyond that.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher:Loves to throw punches in bunches, including powerful flurries that can sometimes overwhelm opponents, as occurred against Collin Huckbody.
• Favorite Combinations: Loves the 2-3, with the left hook being especially dangerous and accurate, as Madrid found out.
• Leg kicks: Excellent leg kicks, being fast, sudden, and hard.
• Body kicks: Excellent, with similar properties to the leg kicks.
• Head kicks: Flawed and ineffective; he puts too much weight on the back foot, and his head kicks are thus a little slow and lack power.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Eblen is now a legitimately good striker. At range, he loves to pelt opponents with his excellent kicks to the legs and body which are fast, powerful and difficult to counter. He loves to open up with punches in bunches, and both his heavy right cross and powerful, technical and accurate left hook are big dangers. One area he can improve is the jab, which is technical and has impact, but is telegraphed and doesn't set up the rest of his offense. He likes to throw the overhand right too, which is dangerous if it lands, but a bit slow and telegraphed. He loves to throw the 1-2 and especially the 2-3, making it difficult for opponents to defend if they're not paying close attention.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: All-time great, a tremendously strong individual who can even dominate other powerful grapplers, like Taylor Johnson or John Salter.
• Technique: All-time great, absolutely textbook and with a lot of weapons at his disposal.
• Knees: Decent enough, but predicates grappling in this area.
• Elbows: Doesn't throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Great simply because the opponent is too worried about being taken down.

Eblen is a monster in the clinch, able to take almost anyone down, even other strong and technical grapplers. Anyone trying to strike with him in this area, as opposed to separate, is making a big mistake.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: All-time great; has a very nifty single-leg to double-leg transition he does to get takedowns and can even time leg kicks with a single-leg.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: All-time great; can even brute strength opponents, lifting them up from a bodylock and slamming them down or picking them up and slamming them from a double-leg. Outstanding mat returns, too.
• Takedown Defense: All-time great; few have tried, but he defends the attempts with ease.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Impossible to tell, since no one has been able to take him down.
• Submissions: Limited, though he did finish a powerful looking five-finger guillotine squeeze against weaker opposition prior to joining Bellator.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Has never found himself on his back.
• Top Control: Moderate; relies a little too much on his mat returns and taking an opponent back down and gives a little too much space but has become increasingly good at transitioning to the back.
• Ground-and-Pound: Pretty good. Throws at a very high rate of fire, and I really like his punches to the body. The ones to the head can be a mixed bag, as some are powerful ones that utilize his body well and other are weak arm punches. Uses a lot of old-school forearm smashes.

Eblen is one of the very best wrestlers in MMA today. His combination of size, strength and technique is exceptional, and he can do everything from take opponents down from a single-leg on reaction to a leg kick, to simply slam them with a body lock from the clinch. I especially love his single-leg to double-leg transition. On top, Eblen has some top control though he relies too much on being able to secure mat returns. His submissions are limited, but he has very solid ground-and-pound that he almost never stops with, often leading to lopsided decision victories. Defensively, Eblen has little to worry about, as no one has ever been able to take him down.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism and general physical strength: All-time great; insane physical strength and plenty of athleticism.
• Cardio: Great; able to wrestle effectively for three and even five full rounds, though he does slow down at least a little after the first two.
• Chin: At least good, wearing a few solid connects well, but hard to tell since he has been hit flush so rarely and has never been hurt.
• Recuperative Powers: Impossible to tell since he has never been badly hurt.
• Intelligence: Excellent; showed some big improvements over his fights and is always making smart tactical decisions while staying calm and in control.