The
Professional Fighters League middleweight strap will still be
on the line, just in a different way.

The promotion announced
on Friday that its marquee matchup for
PFL Austin has changed. Due to an injury suffered by
middleweight kingpin Costello
van Steenis, Johnny
Eblen (17-1) will be drawing a new opponent at the Moody Center
in Texas’ capital city. For the interim 185-pound belt, Eblen will
be rematching Impa
Kasanganay (20-6).

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The man who currently calls himself “Pressure” was looking to exact
revenge for his lone career defeat. After bringing over the
Bellator MMA belt with him, Eblen vied for the
PFL title in 2025 against van Steenis. Up on two scorecards, Eblen
succumbed to a last-second rear-naked choke that put him all the
way to sleep. He has since bounced back into the win column by
wrangling Bryan
Battle with a face crank in a little over four minutes this
past March.

The 2023 light heavyweight tourney victor returned to middleweight
last year to enter into PFL’s 185-pound bracket. While he was
knocked out of it by Fabian
Edwards, he has since rattled off a pair of wins in the weight
class over Andrew
Sanchez and Dalton
Rosta. In the PFL vs. Bellator event in 2024, he opted as the
205-pound tourney champ of the previous year to challenge Eblen in
a crossover battle, and he lost a contentious split decision.

PFL Austin current lineup:

Johnny
Eblen vs. Impa
Kasanganay – interim middleweight belt
Sergio
Pettis vs. Lewis
McGrillen-Evans – bantamweight
Sergio
Cossio vs. Kolton
Englund – lightweight
Andrea
Vazquez vs. Aleksandra
Savicheva – women’s flyweight

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger