Latest news with #JohnnyEblen
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
PFL Champions Series Cape Town 2025: How to Watch MMA Event Live Online
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The best MMA fighters in the world travel to South Africa for PFL Cape Town. In the champions series, the the main card pits American Johnny Eblen (16-0-0) vs. Spanish fighter Costello van Steenis (16-3-0) in a middleweight title bout. More from Variety How to Watch Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2 Live Online New Audiobook on Idaho Murders Tops Audible Charts As Bryan Kohberger Awaits Sentencing How to Watch 'Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful' Online for Free This is the first matchup between Eblen and van Steenis, while both fighters have the same win record at 16 apiece. However, van Steenis has three losses to Eblen zero. For PFL Cape Town, Johnny Eblen is the heavy favorite for victory. WAtch PFL Cape Town 2025 on ESPN+ Want to watch PFL Cape Town 2025 online? Here's what you need to know. When Is PFL Cape Town? Date, Time PFL Champions Series Cape Town takes place tonight, Saturday, July 19 from Grandwest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. The main card starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. PFL Cape Town Livestream: How to Watch PFL Online Get an ESPN+ subscription here for $11.99/month, which will get you instant access to the livestream for PFL Champions Series Cape Town online. Unlike pay-per-view events, PFL is available to stream online free for ESPN+ subscribers. WAtch PFL Cape Town 2025 on ESPN+ An ESPN+ subscription lets you stream all PFL events for free, from your smart TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone via the ESPN app with up to three streams on devices at the same time. Right now, fans can get access to ESPN+ for PFL events for just $11.99/month. But what's the best value? You can grab the Disney Trio Bundle deal here, which gets you ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu starting at $17.99/month. The deep discount saves you nearly 40% off versus signing up for each streaming service one-by-one. Get: The Disney Trio Outside of the U.S.? You can also watch PFL Champions Series Cape Town with a VPN, if you're not in the U.S. You can sign-up for ExpressVPN here starting at just $6.67/month for 12 months and set your location to the U.S. You'll then be able to watch PFL Cape Town 2025 on ESPN+ from anywhere in the world. Get: ExpressVPN Check out the full fight card below, and stream PFL Champions Series Cape Town on ESPN+ here. PFL Cape Town: Main Card, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT — ESPN+ Middleweight: Johnny Eblen (champion) vs. Costello van Steenis — Main Event, Title Fight Women's Flyweight: Dakota Ditcheva vs. Sumiko Inaba — Co-Main Event Featherweight: A. J. McKee vs. Akhmed Magomedov Lightweight: Makkasharip Zaynukov vs. Takeshi Izumi Heavyweight: Corey Anderson vs. Denis Goltsov Stream the livestream feed of PFL Champions Series Cape Town online via ESPN+. WAtch PFL Cape TOwn 2025 on ESPN+ Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
PFL Africa results: Costello Van Steenis shocks Johnny Eblen, Dakota Ditcheva re-signs after lopsided win
Costello Van Steenis shocked the MMA world with a buzzer-beater submission that rendered former Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen unconscious in the final seconds of their title clash Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa. The previously undefeated Eblen (16-1) — long considered one of the best talents outside of the UFC — was putting on a signature display for PFL's maiden voyage to Cape Town, though cracks began to appear in the fourth round when a calf kick forced him to stumble, prompting Van Steenis (17-3) to let his hands go. It seemed as though Eblen regained momentum in the fifth round when he secured Van Steenis' back with a minute left on the clock. However, the challenger managed to force a scramble, reverse the position and immediately apply a rear-naked-choke. The referee waved off the contest with eight seconds left on the clock once Eblen's arms dropped as the referee checked to see if the American was still conscious. 'Nobody is as strong as Johnny in the first and second rounds,' said Van Steenis after the contest. 'He's the strongest guy I've ever fought with, but everybody has got a gas tank and so do I, but I gave my life for this s***, man. Twelve years in the professional business, started really young, made some mistakes … 16-3, but if you saw those threes losses, man, it was just too early for me. I was fighting legends. But I guess now I'm f***ing legend.' In the night's co-main event, 'Dangerous' Dakota Ditcheva (15-0) appeared to tell her corner that she broke her hand midway through the third and final round of her flyweight bout with Sumiko Inaba (8-2). Nonetheless, Ditcheva's striking arsenal was once again spellbinding at times as knees, elbows, fists and feet thudded into Inaba, who deserves credit for going the distance. The broadcast claimed that the Manchester talent landed 87% of her attempted strikes over the three rounds — 152 of 174 shots — helping pound-for-pound star Ditcheva to a clear unanimous decision win. Having gone the distance for the second time in her career, Ditcheva admitted she was disappointed to sustain a knock after a long period on the sidelines. 'I think I've injured my left hand, but I think I'm even more gutted because I've been out for so long and now I've come back and I'm injured again,' said Ditcheva in her post-fight interview. 'That was the best walkout I've ever had, so I just wanted to say thank you so much,' she added, praising the Cape Town crowd. Interestingly, with speculation rampant concerning a potential future move to UFC, Ditcheva also announced that she signed a new deal with PFL that will keep her with the promotion for the foreseeable future. 'I've just re-signed with the PFL, we've come to a great agreement and I'm going to look forward to the next few years,' she said. A.J. McKee (23-2) negotiated a challenging task put forth by Khabib Nurmagomedov student Akhmed Magomedov (11-2) to get back into the green. McKee jarred the Dagestan lightweight with a body kick just before the bell rang to end the first round. In the second, he showcased his stellar grappling ability, spending the majority of the five minutes on Magomedov's back. Although Magomedov looked to push the pace in the final round, McKee controlled him diligently to see out the victory. Earlier in the night, another Nurmagomedov fighter, Makkasharip Zaynukov (17-4), took victory on the main card, earning a clean unanimous decision nod over Japan's Takeshi Izumi (6-4). Opening the main card, Corey Anderson (19-6) put on stellar debut showing at heavyweight against former PFL tournament winner Denis Golstov (36-9). The former Bellator light heavyweight champion forced the Russian the grapple throughout the contest, and after comprehensively draining his gas tank, Anderson stopped the bout with grounded punches with approximately 90 seconds left in the second round. Check out complete PFL Africa results and highlights below. Main Card Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:51 of R5 | Watch finish Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24) A.J. McKee def. Akhmed Magomedov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Artur Zaynukov def. Takeshi Izumi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Corey Anderson def. Denis Goltsov via TKO (strikes) at 3:28 of R2 | Watch finish Preliminary Card Nkosi Ndebele def. Mahmoud Atef via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of R1 | Watch finish Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Mickael Groguhe via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Boule Godogo def. Shannon Van Tonder via split decision (30-26, 28-29, 29-27) Justin Clarke def. Jashell Ticha Awa via TKO (doctor's stoppage) at 5:00 of R1 | Watch finish Karim Henniene def. Antero dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) Joffie Houlton def. Abdoulaye Kane via DQ (illegal knee) at 4:20 of R1 | Watch finish Simbarashe Hokonya def. Frans Mlambo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25) Abraham Bably def. Badr Medkouri via KO at 4:59 (punch) of R1 | Watch finish Juliet Ukah vs. Ceileigh Niedermayr via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
PFL Africa results: Costello Van Steenis shocks Johnny Eblen, Dakota Ditcheva re-signs after lopsided win
Costello Van Steenis shocked the MMA world with a buzzer-beater submission that rendered former Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen unconscious in the final seconds of their title clash Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa. The previously undefeated Eblen (16-1) — long considered one of the best talents outside of the UFC — was putting on a signature display for PFL's maiden voyage to Cape Town, though cracks began to appear in the fourth round when a calf kick forced him to stumble, prompting Van Steenis (17-3) to let his hands go. It seemed as though Eblen regained momentum in the fifth round when he secured Van Steenis' back with a minute left on the clock. However, the challenger managed to force a scramble, reverse the position and immediately apply a rear-naked-choke. The referee waved off the contest with eight seconds left on the clock once Eblen's arms dropped as the referee checked to see if the American was still conscious. 'Nobody is as strong as Johnny in the first and second rounds,' said Van Steenis after the contest. 'He's the strongest guy I've ever fought with, but everybody has got a gas tank and so do I, but I gave my life for this s***, man. Twelve years in the professional business, started really young, made some mistakes … 16-3, but if you saw those threes losses, man, it was just too early for me. I was fighting legends. But I guess now I'm f***ing legend.' In the night's co-main event, 'Dangerous' Dakota Ditcheva (15-0) appeared to tell her corner that she broke her hand midway through the third and final round of her flyweight bout with Sumiko Inaba (8-2). Nonetheless, Ditcheva's striking arsenal was once again spellbinding at times as knees, elbows, fists and feet thudded into Inaba, who deserves credit for going the distance. The broadcast claimed that the Manchester talent landed 87% of her attempted strikes over the three rounds — 152 of 174 shots — helping pound-for-pound star Ditcheva to a clear unanimous decision win. Having gone the distance for the second time in her career, Ditcheva admitted she was disappointed to sustain a knock after a long period on the sidelines. 'I think I've injured my left hand, but I think I'm even more gutted because I've been out for so long and now I've come back and I'm injured again,' said Ditcheva in her post-fight interview. 'That was the best walkout I've ever had, so I just wanted to say thank you so much,' she added, praising the Cape Town crowd. Interestingly, with speculation rampant concerning a potential future move to UFC, Ditcheva also announced that she signed a new deal with PFL that will keep her with the promotion for the foreseeable future. 'I've just re-signed with the PFL, we've come to a great agreement and I'm going to look forward to the next few years,' she said. A.J. McKee (23-2) negotiated a challenging task put forth by Khabib Nurmagomedov student Akhmed Magomedov (11-2) to get back into the green. McKee jarred the Dagestan lightweight with a body kick just before the bell rang to end the first round. In the second, he showcased his stellar grappling ability, spending the majority of the five minutes on Magomedov's back. Although Magomedov looked to push the pace in the final round, McKee controlled him diligently to see out the victory. Earlier in the night, another Nurmagomedov fighter, Makkasharip Zaynukov (17-4), took victory on the main card, earning a clean unanimous decision nod over Japan's Takeshi Izumi (6-4). Opening the main card, Corey Anderson (19-6) put on stellar debut showing at heavyweight against former PFL tournament winner Denis Golstov (36-9). The former Bellator light heavyweight champion forced the Russian the grapple throughout the contest, and after comprehensively draining his gas tank, Anderson stopped the bout with grounded punches with approximately 90 seconds left in the second round. Check out complete PFL Africa results and highlights below. Main Card Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:51 of R5 | Watch finish Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24) A.J. McKee def. Akhmed Magomedov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Artur Zaynukov def. Takeshi Izumi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Corey Anderson def. Denis Goltsov via TKO (strikes) at 3:28 of R2 | Watch finish Preliminary Card Nkosi Ndebele def. Mahmoud Atef via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of R1 | Watch finish Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Mickael Groguhe via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Boule Godogo def. Shannon Van Tonder via split decision (30-26, 28-29, 29-27) Justin Clarke def. Jashell Ticha Awa via TKO (doctor's stoppage) at 5:00 of R1 | Watch finish Karim Henniene def. Antero dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) Joffie Houlton def. Abdoulaye Kane via DQ (illegal knee) at 4:20 of R1 | Watch finish Simbarashe Hokonya def. Frans Mlambo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25) Abraham Bably def. Badr Medkouri via KO at 4:59 (punch) of R1 | Watch finish Juliet Ukah vs. Ceileigh Niedermayr via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Di Nigerian police officer wey dey eye MMA history
"I be di queen of di cage, mixed martial arts. I don land gidigba - so watch out for me". Juliet Ukah na woman wey like to take charge and face huge challenges. Di Nigerian no only dey dominate for combat sports wey include taekwondo, boxing and kickboxing, but she dey also serve her kontri for her day work as police corporal. Di 26 year old wey enta mixed martial arts (MMA) as reluctant stand-in fighter for 2023, dey about to turn part of history wen di Professional Fighters League (PFL) hold di first show for Africa for Cape Town on Saturday. Ukah go join pipo like di popular 2024 European flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva and middleweight title winner Johnny Eblen for di roaster for one of di most high-profile MMA events wey dem go hold for Africa. Ukah tell BBC Sport Africa say, "I feel like queen and I feel good say I be di first African female fighter wey go dey signed to dey part of di PFL". She add say, "somtin dey wey dem see in me wey make dem need to call me for di team". Making a statement for Nigeria Five years bifor she go start for di MMA, Ukah bin dey gingered to enta di Nigerian Police Force bicos of pipo like long jumper Chioma Ajunwa wey herself be officer and win di kontri dia first eva Olympic gold medal for di 1996 Atlanta Games. All di six times wey she fight for MMA, she don win since di time wen she enta am becos of request by Henry George, wey be di president of di Nigeria Mixed Martial Arts Federation. E call her to replace fighter wey no come for card for Cameroon for April 2023. She get her first knockout for DR Congo last June and now dey ready to face home fighter Ceileigh Niedermayr for strawweight showdown for di Grand Arena. Ukah wen she dey tok about her unbeaten record tok say, "e mean a lot to me. Na joyful somtin to maintaim - e make me very happy so I wan add more". She add say, "She [Niedermayr] also be beta fighter wey get good record. Di crowd go dey for her. But e no move me becos I dey use oda pipo fan do motivation." George know how Ukah dey important as role model for female fighters and believe say her PFL debut go bring out "ogbonge statement" about how MMA dey gro for Nigeria. E say, "e mean soo much to us. Dis go solidify her skills, justify all her sacrifices and confam say true-true she belong for di top. E go open doors for bigger opportunities for her to fit chase her goals for life and give am more recognition for her work". 'Opportunity for fighters dey here' Di PFL start for US for 2017 and don alreadi get circuits for America and Europe togeda wit Middle East and North Africa league. Dem make Cameroon born MMA fighter Francis Ngannou di Chairman for PFL Africa wen dem introduce am last year. E bin join di promotion afta e comot di UFC wia e be heavyweight champion. Di PFL dey known for im tournament format, wey mean say fighters go get chance to advance for regular season, play-offs and championship stages so dem go fit reach finals and compete for title. Loren Mack wey be di promotion senior vice president tok say, "di opportunity dey for fighters here for Africa to train, live and compete here for di biggest global scale wey di continent don eva see wen e come to combat sports". Dem add say, "PFL Africa commitment to di continent of Africa na di biggest commitment for combat sports wey Africa don eva see." PFL chief executive Peter Murray tell BBC Sport Africa wen dem first annouce plans say di promotion go invest for athlete development, coaching and training spaces under Ngannou leadership. South Africa-born Frans Mlambo wey dey for di card for Cape Town don be long time sparring partner wit two time UFC champion Conor McGregor add say talent wey dey wait to dey discovered for di kontri dey "unbelievable". Di first PFL Africa competition go get 24 fighters from 14 African kontris and dia second event go happun for Johannesburg for 9 August. Ukah explain say, "di biggest challenges wey MMA fighters get for Africa na facilities, equipment and sponsors. "PFL don enta di picture. E mean a lot to me bicos now I for start my career. Na ogbonge platform for me to show my talent." Inspiring di next generation Ukah, wey also dey play football and compete for track and field athlete say both her law enforcement and sporting roles fit dey hard. She tok say she dey destined to be fighter as she add say, "I tank God say e gimme strength to manage di two becos e dey help me for hard times. "My career as elite MMA athlete don really help me for police as e concern discipline and self-control. "E dey also help me do well for work." She go join Ditcheva of Manchester wey get perfect 14-fight record to do striking workshop wey dem go teach women for fighting week. Dis na wia PFL dey invite di public make dem learn new skills from pipo wey "dey rep di top of women MMA". Ukah wan own gym and train odas. Her main dream na to teach women di value and disciplime of combat sports. She explain say, "wetin inspire me to get career for combat sports na how dem dey treat women for society and how dem no dey hear women voices. "I dey use my platform to take inspire women to fit train for self-defence and defend demsefs for society. "I believe say wit my ability, I go fit inspire young women to pass wetin dem expect."
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
PFL Champions Series Africa live updates: Results, round-by-round coverage
PFL Champions Series Africa takes place Saturday, and MMA Junkie has you covered with live round-by-round coverage and official results throughout the main card. The event takes place at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa, and broadcasts live on ESPN+ starting at 5 p.m. ET. The undercard is opening round action of the PFL Africa tournament, featuring bantamweights and heavyweights, streaming live on the PFL app starting at 10 a.m. ET. In the headliner, undefeated middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (16-0) puts his title on the line against Costello van Steenis (16-3). In the co-feature, unbeaten 2024 women's flyweight PFL season winner, Dakota Ditcheva (14-0), takes on Sumiko Inaba (8-1). Keep up with round-by-round coverage and official results below. PFL Champions Series Africa lineup MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET) PFL Africa Cape Town lineup PRELIMINARY CARD (10 a.m. ET, PFL app) PFL Champions Series Africa weigh-in gallery
