Latest news with #Eblen
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
PFL Africa results: Costello van Steenis pulls off insane buzzer-beater, taps Johnny Eblen
If he does nothing else, Costello van Steenis will always be remembered for Saturday's fight. Not only did he become PFL middleweight champion, van Steenis (17-3) did so in improbable fashion when he submitted Johnny Eblen with nine seconds left in their five-round bout. The stoppage came at 4:51 of Round 5. The middleweight clash headlined PFL Africa at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. Eblen (16-1) had utilized his strong wrestling base and relentless pressure to largely dominate van Steenis the entire fight prior to his demise. Entering Round 5, Eblen was up 39-37 on two judges' scorecards with a third having the fight tied 38-38. Eblen got the fight down to the ground midway through Round 5 and took van Steenis' back. With approximately 45 seconds left on the clock, Eblen made a fatal mistake and fell off the top. Van Steenis slickly flipped the script, got Eblen's back, locked in a rear-naked choke, and put Eblen to sleep. A longtime training partner of Gegard Mousasi, van Steenis built his name in Bellator where he went 7-2 prior to PFL's merger. A 48-second head kick in his PFL debut earned him a crack at Eblen, who had never lost prior to Saturday's bout. Up-to-the-minute PFL Africa results include:
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
PFL Cape Town Main Event Preview: Johnny Eblen
This Saturday is a truly historic day for the PFL. The promotion will host it's first African event from Cape Town and they are bringing a banger of a card to South Africa. In the main event, the middleweight title is on the line as the undefeated champion Johnny Eblen (16-0) takes on 'The Spaniard' Costello Van Steenis (16-3). Eblen will make the walk as the champion, but this will be his first official title defense as the PFL champion. Eblen had won the Bellator title back in 2022 with a dominant win over Gegard Mousasi. He then defended it twice with big wins over Anatoly Tokov and Fabian Edwards. He then won a split decision over Impa Kasanganay at the PFL vs. Bellator event. His last fight was last October where he defeated Fabian Edwards by decision in a rematch. Standing across from the champion is Costello Van Steenis. Van Steenis earns this title shot off two straight finishes. Overall, he's 4-1 in his last five fights with the lone loss being a decision loss to Douglas Lima back in 2023. His last fight came back in November when he knocked out Joao Vitor Dantas with a head kick in the first round. Johnny Eblen is the big betting favorite for good reason, however, he hasn't looked incredible in his last few fights. The Johnny Eblen we've seen in the PFL has not been the same as the guy we saw in Bellator. Whether it's motivation or lack of activity, something seems off and perhaps that could create an opening for Van Steenis. However, at the end of the day, the wrestling of Eblen should be able to carry him in this matchup. I truly think that if he's fully prepared and he took this fight seriously, he should be able to impose his will throughout this matchup on his way to winning a decision. Related Headlines Knicks 88, Pacers 91: Good news and bad news as comeback effort falls short Rays first baseman would be 'high' on the Red Sox's wish list should he be made available The Braves have something special in power-hitting rookie Yankees linked to elite slugger, but it's an 'extreme' long shot
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Eblen vs. van Steenis winner will leave PFL Africa with upgraded middleweight belt
The PFL main event winner at Saturday might want to take his new belt home as a carryon and not in his checked luggage. The extra weight might incur an extra charge. Johnny Eblen (16-0) will go into his middleweight title fight against Costello van Steenis (16-3) as, technically, the Bellator 185-pound champion. If he wins at PFL Champions Series: Africa in Cape Town, the belt he'll leave with is the PFL middleweight title. And that piece of hardware has been revealed. PFL's description of it: "a 12-pound masterpiece crafted from aircraft-grade metals, plated in 24-karat gold and mirror-polished nickel, adorned with 175 sparkling stones." Eblen said in a statement released by the promotion that he preferred the new belt to the one he has currently, which migrated over from Bellator after the PFL bought the promotion and dissolved it. Eblen beat Gegard Mousasi three years ago to win Bellator's middleweight title and defended it twice before the PFL merger. Since then, he beat Impa Kasanganay in a Bellator vs. PFL champ-vs.-champ matchup and defended the belt again, but under the PFL banner, against Fabian Edwards. Fan favorite van Steenis has won four of his past five, but most recently his Von Flue choke win over Gregory Babene 14 months ago and a highlight-reel head kick KO in a featured bout at the PFL 2024 championships caught enough attention to warrant a title shot. "This looks good on me because I'm a real champion. This is coming home with me. I'm going to give my life for this one," van Steenis said in a statement about the new belt. For the first time, the PFL has set up shop in Africa for a Champions Series event at the southern tip of the continent in Cape Town, South Africa. It will mark the first major MMA event on the continent. PFL Champions Series: Africa takes place at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town. The card streams on ESPN+ at 5 p.m.
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Unprecedented MMA action as PFL Africa hosts elite fighters in Cape Town's Grand Arena
The best MMA fighters in the world are in South Africa preparing to fight in the PFL Champions Series in the Mother City, with the event doubling as the inaugural PFL Africa fixture. The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is setting up shop in Africa with the PFL Africa, and it's hosting the biggest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event South Africa has seen thus far in its launch. The PFL competes alongside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in terms of organisation size and calibre, with several of the worlds best MMA fighters taking to the Grand Arena at Grandwest, Cape Town, on Saturday, 19 July 2025, to compete. It's looking increasingly unlikely that UFC — in which South African middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis competes — will host an event in South Africa for the foreseeable future with operational costs, ticket prices and suitable venues an issue for the Dana White-run organisation. So for South African MMA fans, Saturday's event is the highest quality MMA event the country will see until PFL decides to return. PFL Africa launches on Saturday — PFL's third international league alongside PFL Europe and PFL Middle East and North Africa — beginning with first-round matchups in the heavyweight and bantamweight divisions. Each division will feature an eight-person bracket, with fighters advancing through semifinals and finals. The tournament will span four events across Africa and feature 24 fighters from 14 African countries. The next event is on 9 August in Johannesburg — at Top Arena, Carnival City — where the featherweight and welterweight divisions will compete. South Africa's Nkosi Ndebele's (8-3) bantamweight bout against Egypt's Mahmoud Atef (5-2) is one of a handful of mouthwatering PFL Africa clashes on Saturday. Later on Saturday night the event will be headlined by five PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai bouts — PFL's main fighting league. In the World Title main event, undefeated Middleweight World Champion Johnny Eblen (16-0) meets Spain's Costello van Steenis (16-3). In the co-main event, undefeated 2024 PFL world champion Dakota Ditcheva (14-0) takes on Hawaii's Sumiko Inaba (8-1). Headliners In the process of PFL's ongoing expansion, it also acquired another MMA organisation, Bellator MMA, in 2023. In doing so, it signed several of their stars including Saturday's star attraction Eblen. 'Being part of the global expansion for the PFL is really fun,' Eblen said at the media day on Wednesday. 'Me and my wife get to travel the world. 'It's fun to see the world, see different cultures and see fighting spread. At the end of the day it's what we want to do, and the PFL has been a big staple for that, and I'm happy to be a part of it. 'What's attractive about it is that they can bring in new guys for me to fight. '[PFL] is really good at raising money and getting things going. I'm fighting in Africa now, I fought in Saudi Arabia twice, before that I was mainly fighting in the States, which was fun but I also like travelling.' It's Eblen's first time in South Africa. The middleweight star has spent two weeks in the country to acclimatise and get over the time difference. But in the time he's been in the Mother City, he's also had his phone stolen. 'We were in an Uber, my window was down in the city centre in a bad area and someone snatched my phone,' he said, although admitting that it was down to his own negligence. 'But that would happen anywhere, that would happen in the US in a bad area.' His opponent on Saturday night, Van Steenis, was adamant that he would break Eblen's unbeaten run, claiming he would end the bout in the second round. Eblen's response was short and to the point: 'No, he's not.' Although the 33-year-old did outline that Van Steenis is a top athlete, he's confident he'll retain his middleweight crown against the Spaniard. 'He's an aggressive, athletic guy, he goes for the finish, but that's really it,' Eblen said. 'Every guy I've fought has that ability. He's nothing different to what I've seen from any other opponent. Just a different guy on a different day. I've got better.'
USA Today
03-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Johnny Eblen happy with PFL but left wanting more: 'Money can only do so much'
Many of the big names PFL acquired through its Bellator purchase late last year are now gone from the promotion. However, Johnny Eblen – the last Bellator middleweight champion – remains, perhaps the biggest name remaining from the Bellator crop. Eblen (16-0) is set to return to the PFL smart cage, inaugurating the promotion's PFL Africa wing – which is scheduled for July 26 at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town. He takes on Costello van Steenis (16-3) in his first PFL middleweight title defense. Considered one of the best fighters outside the UFC today, many have wondered about Eblen's contractual situation with PFL and whether or not he'll be the next man to leave for the UFC. Speaking to MMA Junkie Radio, Eblen pulled back the curtain on his situation, going into detail of where he stands. "I have three fights left on the contract, this is one of three, the one I'm fighting at in South Africa," Eblen explained. "That's kind of where I'm at. It's my Bellator contract. It's not a PFL contract. I think they have matching rights for a year after. That's pretty much all I know about the contract they acquired. That's it. Either I fight it out, which I really doubt I'm going to get three fights by March 2026, or it expires, and technically I'd be able to see what's out there." Unlike Patricio Freire and Patchy Mix, Bellator champions who were released from their PFL deals after airing their grievances publicly, Eblen is happy with how he's treated by the promotion. He's happy with his compensation and is getting fights. However, he can't help but want to test himself against the big middleweights over in the UFC so he can prove to the world he's indeed the best at 185 pounds. "I think it's better to have those conversations in private and see where that gets you before taking it to Twitter or X or Instagram," Eblen said. "But they've been feeding me well. I've been happy there. I'm not upset. The only thing that kind of frustrates me is that I'm only able to fight certain people, and I can't really extend outside of it and the odds of them bringing in people that make sense for me to fight to really raise the status of my stock, it doesn't look super probable. So, you know, that's kind of where I'm at with my relationship with PFL. "I really hope they do well because I think it's important for promotions outside the UFC to give opportunities to fighters. They're a great company, they've treated me well, they treat a lot of people well. A lot of people making a lot of money through PFL, they're great. But there comes a point in time, money can only do so much. I want to find out. I want to fight the DDPs and the Khamzat Chimaevs, and they're not in PFL."
