Eblen wishes he could fight Du Plessis, eyes free agency in 2025
Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen believes he would beat UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. But thanks to exclusive contracts and the overall nature of the fight business, there's no way he can find out for sure.
Undefeated as a pro and widely regarded as the top middleweight outside the UFC, Eblen is under contract with the PFL following its acquisition of Bellator late last year. As such, he can't sign with the UFC or any other MMA organization even if he wanted to. Eblen is scheduled to face PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay at the PFL vs. Bellator: Champs event Feb. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
However, the American Top Team product has a deep desire to prove himself against the best middleweight in the world - whether that's Du Plessis or someone else. To secure that opportunity, Eblen told theScore he "definitely" plans to explore free agency when his PFL deal expires at the end of 2025.
"That's how you get paid the most," Eblen said. "At the end of the day, I only have one body, I only have one shot. I want my wallet to be f-----g fat. I want a fat bank account. I want a lot of zeros. I want to get taken care of so my kids are taken care of. I don't even have kids right now - I just have dogs - but my future kids. And my kids' kids. I'm trying to build generational wealth and buy some homes and make some good investments."
One way Du Plessis-Eblen could happen in the foreseeable future would be the UFC and PFL reaching a deal to co-promote the fight. But that's highly unlikely given UFC CEO Dana White has never been in favor of co-promotion. White reiterated his stance as recently as November when he shut down the idea of working with the PFL to book a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. Eblen said it's "very unfortunate" that UFC co-promotions aren't commonplace.
"Boxing does it, why don't we do it?" Eblen asked.
Testing free agency has become more common - and viable - in MMA in recent years. Ngannou shook up the fight world by leaving the UFC as the reigning heavyweight champion in January 2023. He signed a landmark deal with the PFL four months later. Nate Diaz, one of the biggest draws in UFC history, parted ways with the promotion after a pay-per-view main-event win in 2022.
Still, free agency in MMA is far less prevalent than it is in other sports. Eblen wants to see more movement in MMA.
"I see a lot of really, really good fighters - that I personally know, too - that aren't getting paid what they're worth," Eblen said. "They're f-----g good, they're very professional, they show up and they f-----g fight their ass off, but they don't even make close to what I make.
"I feel like if you want to get paid the most for your work, you definitely have to test free agency."