PFL middleweight titleholder Costello Van Steenis isn’t interested in running it back right away with Johnny Eblen.
Johnny Eblen suffered one of the biggest upsets of the MMA calendar year with seconds on the clock at PFL Cape Town last weekend. En route to what seemed like another decisive victory, Eblen was choked unconscious by Costello Van Steenis with seven seconds left in the fifth round for his first professional defeat.
It was a shocking ending to Eblen’s undefeated run as the PFL crowned a new titleholder in Van Steenis. Almost immediately after the fight, speculation over an immediate rematch ran rampant, but Van Steenis isn’t keen on running it back with Eblen in the coming months.
Costello Van Steenis isn’t interested in running it back right away with Johnny Eblen after shocking upset
On Monday, Eblen took to X to make his desired next fight known.
“I want a rematch. ASAP,” Eblen posted.
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Van Steenis responded to Eblen’s tweet and declined his case for an immediate rematch.
“We’ll definitely fight sooner or later, but I think they want me to fight the winner of the tournament, of [Fabian] Edwards and [Dalton Rosta],” Van Steenis said. “I’ve got the target on my back…I think somebody else is in line now.
“Maybe let him fight the loser of [Edwards vs. Rosta] and we’ll see. I don’t think it’ll happen, but if the PFL wants that, then I’m good to go. I’m the champion so I’ll fight anybody, I believe I’m the best in the world, and I believe if Eblen and I fight again, it would be even easier than this first fight. I came in with a lot of respect for him…
“All these legends like Dustin Poirier talking so good about this guy ‘One of the best middleweight fighters in the world outside of the UFC’…but now I know his energy, his gas tank, and he’s human just like we all are. His gas tank isn’t better than mine, not his strength, his wrestling is because he’s been doing it since he was 5. Put some striking in the game, and it’s all different!”
As of this writing, Eblen hasn’t responded to Van Steenis’s comments. Top middleweights Dalton Rosta and Fabian Edwards will square off for the PFL World Tournament 185 lb championship next month.
Eblen received endorsements from the likes of Joe Rogan, Dustin Poirier, and others amid his previously unbeaten run under the PFL/Bellator banner. He defeated the likes of Edwards, Gegard Mousasi, and Impa Kasanganay earlier in his PFL/Bellator tenure.
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Corey Anderson made more in PFL Cape Town win than several UFC champs
Van Steenis’s upset win wasn’t the only notable moment from an eventful night at PFL Cape Town. Dakota Ditcheva escaped a near-upset from Sumiko Inaba with a decision win, ending her long stoppage streak.
Former UFC star Corey Anderson kicked off his heavyweight run with a wild win over Denis Goltsov at PFL Cape Town. Anderson, who left the UFC for Bellator in 2020, has found a lot of success in his new MMA home.
AJ McKee earned another decisive win over Akhmed Magomedov in his featherweight return, and heavyweight prospect Abraham Bably continued his rise with a one-punch knockout during the prelims.