{"id":135768,"date":"2026-05-06T12:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=135768"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:17:30","slug":"validation-vs-redemption-pfl-middleweight-championship-rematch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=135768","title":{"rendered":"Validation Vs Redemption: PFL Middleweight Championship Rematch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=135768\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=135768\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-135769 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PFL-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Professional Fighters League (PFL) today announced that PFL Middleweight World Champion Costello van Steenis (18-3) will defend his title against No. 1-ranked Johnny Eblen (17-1) in a highly anticipated championship rematch on Saturday, July 18 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>The PFL Austin main card will air live on ESPN2 in the U.S. beginning at 8 pm ET. The preliminary portion will begin at 5 pm ET and can be seen on the ESPN app. Tickets for the event are available now through pre-sale at pfl.info\/austin. Additional bouts will be announced shortly.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 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,\u201d said PFL CEO John Martin. \u201cThere 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\u2019t wait to see how it plays out on July 18.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Van Steenis and Eblen first met in July 2025 for the inaugural PFL Middleweight World Championship, producing one of the most dramatic finishes in recent MMA history. Eblen controlled the fight and was seconds away from victory before van Steenis changed everything, securing a rear-naked choke in the final moments of the fifth round to capture the title and hand Eblen the first loss of his professional career.<\/p>\n<p>One moment decided their first meeting in Africa and that moment has defined everything since.<\/p>\n<p>Van Steenis returned to prove it wasn\u2019t a fluke. In his first title defense, he delivered a statement performance against Fabian Edwards at PFL Madrid, finishing the fight by third-round TKO and reinforcing his claim as the best middleweight in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted this rematch with Eblen from the moment the first fight ended,\u201d said van Steenis. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot being said about that first result, and I\u2019m looking forward to proving, definitively, that I\u2019m the better fighter on July 18.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eblen also responded. In his return, he dominated UFC veteran Bryan Battle at PFL Pittsburgh from start to finish, securing a first-round rear-naked choke and immediately reestablishing himself as the division\u2019s top contender.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gotta get that belt back.\u201d Eblen screamed following his win over Battle. \u201cCostello if you\u2019re watching, I\u2019m coming for you baby, revenge. Let\u2019s go, revenge!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Validation vs. Redemption.<\/p>\n<p>For van Steenis, this is validation, beating Eblen once isn\u2019t enough. He must prove it wasn\u2019t timing, wasn\u2019t luck, and wasn\u2019t a single moment, but that he is, without question, the best middleweight in the world. For Eblen, this is redemption. Not a comeback. Not a reset. Taking back the title he believes should never truly left him.<\/p>\n<p>On July 18, the PFL middleweight division doesn\u2019t move forward until this is settled.<\/p>\n<p>Updated PFL Austin Main Card:<\/p>\n<p>Moody Center \u2013 Austin, Texas<\/p>\n<p>July 18 | 8 pm ET \/ 5 pm PT<\/p>\n<p>ESPN2 (U.S.)<\/p>\n<p>PFL Middleweight World Championship Main Event: C-Costello van Steenis (18-3) vs. #1-Johnny Eblen (17-1)<\/p>\n<p>UPCOMING PFL SCHEDULE:<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 23 -\u202fPFL Brussels\u202f-\u202fING Arena &#8211; Brussels, Belgium<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, June 27 \u2013 PFL San Diego Presented by GOVX \u2013 Pechanga Arena San Diego \u2013 San Diego, California<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, July 18 \u2013 PFL Austin \u2013 Moody Center \u2013 Austin, Texas<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Welcome To The &quot;Bad&quot; Brad Berkwitt Show\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SI1AfkBrG3I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; 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The PFL Austin main card will air live on ESPN2 in the U.S. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10374],"tags":[35060],"class_list":["post-135768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma-2","tag-validation-vs-redemption-pfl-middleweight-championship-rematch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135768"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/135769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}