Johnny
Eblen has waited patiently, and will now get his shot at
redemption 364 days after losing his crown.
That moment will come on July 18 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas,
as the
Professional Fighters League on Wednesday revealed its plans
for a rematch pitting PFL middleweight champion Costello
van Steenis against the man he dramatically upset almost a year
ago to the day.
“This is the fight that fans have been asking for since the moment
Costello secured the rear-naked choke in the final seconds of their
first world championship fight,” PFL CEO John Martin stated in a
news release. “There were a lot of opinions about how that fight
ended, and both fighters have something to prove. Now we have a
massive rematch with everything on the line, validation for ‘The
Spaniard,’ or redemption for ‘Pressure.’ I can’t wait to see how it
plays out on July 18.”
Eblen (17-1) was widely considered to be one of the best
middleweights in the world before being upset by van Steenis on
July 19, 2025. The former Bellator
MMA 185-pound champion also continued his reign in PFL when the
promotion took over Bellator. Eblen was a massive -550 favorite
going into his title defense against van Steenis last year and
appeared to be controlling the action throughout the match.
However, the Spaniard handed Eblen his lone professional loss by
choking him unconscious with nine seconds left in one of the
biggest upsets in PFL title fight history. Eblen has since
rebounded with a first-round submission of
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Bryan
Battle.
“I got to get that belt back,” Eblen yelled in the cage after
dismantling Battle. “Costello if you’re watching, I’m coming for
you baby, revenge. Let’s go, revenge!”
Fighters often say that you are not a champion until you have
defended the belt, and Van Steenis established himself as a
rightful king when he successfully retained the title with a Round
3 technical knockout of Fabian
Edwards on March 20 in Madrid, Spain.
“I wanted this rematch with Eblen from the moment the first fight
ended,” said van Steenis in Wednesday’s news release. “There’s
still a lot being said about that first result, and I’m looking
forward to proving, definitively, that I’m the better fighter on
July 18.”
July 18’s main card will air live on ESPN 2 in the U.S. at 8 p.m.
ET. The prelims kick off at 5 p.m. ET on the ESPN App. Tickets are
available now at pfl.info/austin.