John Salter: Johnny Eblen’s Animosity is Due to Need to Prove Himself

The upcoming Bellator 276 event will feature the return of John Salter, who is making his first appearance after falling short of capturing the middleweight championship in August. Salter (18-5, 8-2 Bellator) is set to lock horns with Johnny Eblen in a 185-pound clash that looks to be very heated. Eblen has never hidden his desire to face Salter, especially since both men are at the top of the middleweight rankings. While Eblen looks to have taken the fight almost personally, Salter explains that it’s just business for him. However, the Gym-O standout understands why he perceives some frustration from his opponent.

“There seems to be [some animosity] from his side,” he said. “I don’t know why. This is a business fight, so I’m just going there fighting like anybody else. I think that it might be a little… He’s probably tired of hearing, ‘You haven’t been tested.’ He wants to fight somebody at the top of the division to solidify himself as a legitimate contender. It makes sense that he wants to do it, but it’s the fight I actually asked for. I asked to fight him in December, and that didn’t work out. Now it’s time to face each other. I think it’s perfect timing for that. It’s going to be a good fight.”

Salter also discussed training with former Ultimate Fighting Championship 185-pound champion Chris Weidman for this fight, commented on loss to Gegard Mousasi, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:36) What’s going on with his YouTube channel
(01:54) Losing to Mousasi
(03:07) Commenting on Mousasi’s victory over Austin Vanderford
(03:31) Preparing for Eblen
(05:00) Training with Weidman
(05:33) Whether there is any bad blood with Eblen
(06:30) His pick for Adam Borics vs. Mads Burnell
(06:57) His walkout song
(07:28) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.