Costello van Steenis won’t be defending his title against rival Johnny Eblen in Texas.
The PFL announced Friday that van Steenis has been forced out of his rematch with Eblen (17-1), which was to headline PFL Austin on July 18. With the middleweight champion sidelined, Eblen instead faces replacement opponent Impa Kasanganay (20-6) for a second time, now with an interim title up for grabs.
See the announcement below.
Van Steenis and Eblen fought their way back to a grudge match after van Steenis pulled off a come-from-behind comeback submission win over Eblen at PFL Africa this past July to not only claim Eblen’s middleweight title, but also hand the American his first defeat.
For his first defense, van Steenis faced another past opponent, Fabian Edwards, and scored a second win over him, this time via third-round knockout. Eblen earned his rematch by making quick work of former UFC fighter Bryan Battle this past March.
Now, the two will have to wait to fight again, with Eblen having to get past Kasanganay, who is no stranger to playing the spoiler. Kasanganay made the most of a move up to 205 pounds in 2023, going 5-0 that season and winning a light heavyweight tournament and a $1 million prize. He returned to 185 pounds following PFL’s acquisition of Bellator and lost a split decision to Eblen, and has gone 5-2 since jumping between middleweight and light heavyweight. Kasanganay is coming off of consecutive victories over Dalton Rosta and Andrew Sanchez.
Eblen vs. Kasanganay 2 headlines PFL Austin, which takes place at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and features a bantamweight co-main event between Sergio Pettis and Lewis McGrillen.
