The champ is here: Fresh off winning the
Professional Fighters League middleweight title via a
last-minute comeback, Costello
van Steenis established himself as a true champion with a
technical knockout of Fabian
Edwards in the third round (1:48) on Friday at the Vistalegre
Arena Palace in Madrid, Spain.
With his countrymen supporting him, van Steenis controlled the bout
early at
PFL Madrid and outstuck the dangerous Englishmen. As van
Steenis (18-3, 3-0 PFL) established his leg kick, Edwards
surprisingly looked to clinch and takedown the champion along the
fence. With Edwards stuffed and van Steenis dropping his weight on
top of his back, the Spaniard dropped elbows to the side of The
Assassin’s head until Edwards body went limp and was saved by
referee Blake
Grice.
For Edwards the loss is devastating; van Steenis was the first
fighter to beat Edwards nearly six years ago and revenge was on his
mind. Edwards won the 2025 PFL middleweight tournament, but van
Steenis has clearly established himself as the best middleweight in
the PFL with wins over Edwards and former champion Johnny
Eblen.
A.J.
McKee is one of the top talents in the PFL and once again
proved his class with a clear decision win over savvy veteran
Adam
Borics (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). McKee (24-2, 3-1 PFL) calmly
stayed on the outside and punished Boric’s lead leg with kicks. As
Borics stepped in, McKee would step off line and force “The Kid” to
reestablish his footing. McKee was slowed a bit after injuring his
toe at the end of the first round, but the former Bellator
MMA featherweight champion still had enough in the tank to
outclass Borics (20-4, 2-2) on the cards. With the win, McKee put
himself in line for a shot at the vacant featherweight title.
Former Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship king Franco
Tenaglia notched a win in his PFL debut after submission
specialist Yassin
Najid was unable to answer the bell before the third round.
Najid (9-7, 0-2 PFL) countered Tenaglia’s aggression early and made
the most of his positions on the ground. One round in, and it was
clear that despite being the underdog, Najid was there to fight.
Tenaglia (6-2, 1-0 PFL) obliged and ground Najid down to paste
during the second round. Intense pressure and punishment kept Najid
on the canvas, fighting for space. As the round came to a close,
Najid stumbled back to the corner with a dislocated shoulder and an
exhausted look on his face. The fight was stopped between rounds
due to the injury, which had Najid sporting an obviously disfigured
shoulder region.
Jacinta
Austin left fans stunned in her PFL debut after knocking
Benita van
Rooij senseless in the first round of their flyweight feud
(2:40). Austin (8-2, 1-0 PFL) has a diverse striking background,
having competed in boxing and K-1 kickboxing. She showed off her
skillset early against the skilled grappler by flowing in and out
of range and peppering her with hard shots. Austin would finally
put van Rooij (7-2, 0-1 PFL)
away with a right hand counter on the money , and it
wouldn’t take long for referee Bryan Miner to call off the
onslaught.
Linton
Vassell made light work of Jose
Augusto en route to a second round finish (2:48). The English
heavyweight hadn’t been seen in the PFL Smartcage since 2024 and
looked rusty in the first round, but quickly picked things up
heading into the second. “Big Swarm” drew Augusto’s fire and
countered with a double leg that left the Brazilian on his back.
Vassell transitioned into full mount and pressed to secure an arm
triangle, but Augusto (11-6, 0-1 PFL) was determined to not be
submitted. Seeing the opportunity to punish his prey with punches,
Vassell rained down shots on the flattened out foe
until referee Grice intervened. Vassell (26-10, 2-2 PFL) proved
that at 42, he’s still amongst the best heavyweights on the PFL
roster.
Luciano
Pereira exploded on the PFL stage with an electrifying
first-round knockout over Kevin
Cordero (2:10). At 25, Pereira has already notched 10 knockouts
on his ledger, and it’s easy to understand why he could be a player
in the PFL bantamweight picture. From the opening bell, Pereira
(15-1, 1-0 PFL) threw with bad intentions. Coredero walked into
range with his head on the center line, and
Pereira made him pay with a pair of hooks to the
temple, laying Cordero (15-6, 0-1 PFL) out flat on the
canvas.
Borja
Garcia Heres edged out Rafael
Calderon (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in flyweight action. In a battle
between promotional debutants, Calderon and Garcia struggled to
figure each other out, and the fight was primarily a struggle for
positioning. Calderon outgrappled Garcia in the opening round, but
Garcia clinched his way back into the fight by keeping Calderon
limited along the cage. Garcia worked hard to keep his weight on
Calderon’s back, but never pressed the action, electing to spam
kicks to the back of the calf. Neither man was impressive, but with
the win, Garcia (7-2, 1-0 PFL) picked up his second straight win
and first in the major leagues.
Gino van
Steenis was thrilled to fight on the undercard of his older
brother’s world title fight and he made the most of the
opportunity. Matched against dangerous lightweight Mark Ewen,
van Steenis brought the fans out of their seats with a devastating
first-round knockout (2:43). Ewen (7-3, 2-3 PFL) is known to be an
aggressive starter, van but Steenis (8-2, 2-1 PFL)
made him pay with a perfectly-timed right hand over
Ewen’s jab midway through the round. The Scot hit the canvas and
was at van Steenis’ mercy until referee Grice was forced to
intervene.
Spanish featherweight Mattia
Giordano had his hands full early with the hard-charging
Ernesto
Schisano, but showcased excellent movement and fluid striking
en route to the decision win (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Schisano (5-2,
0-1 PFL) came into his PFL debut off a brutal first-round TKO and
pressed the lanky Giordano from the start. Giordano used his
height, reach and lateral movement to float around the cage and
fight in spurts, picking apart Schisano’s high guard. As the fight
wore on, Giordano (5-2, 1-0 PFL) separated himself with volume and
accuracy. With the win, Girodano notched his third-straight
win.
Claudio
Pacella was on the short end of a split decision loss in his
last fight, but dominantly took the win Friday against David Mora
in 165-pound catchweight action. Pacella mauled and bullied Mora
(10-7, 0-1 PFL), limiting the PFL debutant’s offense and forcing
him to carry his weight all fight. Pacella (7-3, 4-2 PFL) would’ve
loved to press for the finish, but settled for a lopsided decision
win (30-27, 30-26, 30-27).
Spain’s Nacho
Campos defended home soil with a hard-fought unanimous decision
win (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Mathys
Duragrin in the opening bout. Campos (7-2, 1-1 PFL) opened the
catchweight match with a dominant first round. He ragdolled the
Frenchman, pursued submissions, and nearly finished Duragrin with a
gut-wrenching knee to the body. Duragrin (4-3, 0-2 PFL) displayed
his heart and fought his way back into the contest, but Campos was
too strong. The win puts Campos back in the win column after
suffering a knockout loss in his last outing. Duragrin dropped his
third straight.