PFL Africa results: Costello van Steenis pulls off insane buzzer-beater, taps Johnny Eblen

USA Today

19-07-2025

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: