Johnny Eblen is confident that after how he dispatched of Bryan Battle, he is next up for a shot at the PFL middleweight belt. His buzzer beater loss to current PFL 185 pound titleholder Costello Van Steenis was seen as the biggest upset win/ underdog outcome of 2025 and a sequel clash would be intriguing to many. This considering Eblen was seen as winning a sizable amount of the fight prior to the finish.
PFL Pittsburgh not only saw Eblen halt Bryan Battle with a submission in the opening stanza of their bout on March 28th, but Impa Kasanganay also finished Dalton Rosta in a fight that could also position the next middleweight title challenger in the promotion. When asked pre-Bryan Battle bout why he should be that next person to challenge for Van Steenis’ crown after the emphatic championship defense against Fabian Edwards at PFL Madrid, Eblen said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I think just in general I’ve beaten the challenger twice. I was beating the current champ the whole fight and lost in the last few seconds. Dalton [Rosta] and Impa [Kasanganay] have both lost to a guy I’ve beat twice. I think I’m clearly the guy to fight for the title next… I think I’m well deserved of a title shot after this.”
Johnny Eblen wants revenge, regaining gold, and several title defenses thereafter
While it didn’t seem Johnny Eblen was couching it in any particular context, but just telling the fuller story of the first Costello Van Steenis fight, the former Bellator MMA champion has previously mentioned how he had gotten injured at a certain point in the camp. That maybe a pull out should have transpired before that PFL Africa 1 defeat in Cape Town to CVS.
When asked if a rematch with someone like Van Steenis would give him a closure piece in terms of a fully prepared, fully optimized Johnny Eblen competing in that kind of a sequel scenario for the strap, Eblen stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah and I chose to fight, so no excuses. It is; like I’ve had previous camps where I’ve been injured and I came out and obviously I won. Things aren’t perfect all the time, but I think it was just like a multiplier of things. I was going to South Africa. My whole corner couldn’t go because they had to go corner Dustin Poirier the same weekend. Then also I had an injury in camp and I think it was just like a lot to handle.”
“Yeah, I think getting a rematch with a full camp, hopefully not so many things all at once and being able to get my revenge again. Honestly, at the end of the day, regardless of who has the title, that’s really the end goal is to reclaim that title and defend it as many times as I can.”
