Van Steenis Miricle Comeback in Cape Town
The PFL Middleweight title has changed hands in one of the most dramatic comebacks MMA has ever seen.
Defending champion Johnny Eblen put his trademark pressure on Costello Van Steenis who was wearing damage under his right eye heading to the corner after round one. Eblen put his imprint on the first three rounds controlling with his wrestling. Eblen one step ahead of Van Steenis in every transition but unable to get close to a finish.
“The Spaniard” turned the tables in the fourth round as his takedown defense came together forcing Eblen into battling the round out on the feet where Van Steenis found major success opening up Eblen between the eyes. With a sense of urgency Eblen put a renewed effort into getting Van Steenis back on the mat for most of the first four minutes of the fifth round. As Eblen went to insert his hooks to take Van Steenis back the challenger granny rolled and reversed the position taking Eblen’s back with time ticking down Van Steenis slipped in a rear naked choke and with ten seconds left on the clock Elben went unconscious. The incredible comeback completed by the new PFL Middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis.
In the co-main event Dakota Ditcheva continued to crave a path of destruction through the PFL Women’s Flyweight division. Remarkable toughness was displayed by Sumiko Inaba who managed to survive all the way to the scorecards after absorbing a barrage of punishment in the clinch. Ditcheva stabbed at Inaba with teap kicks and jab-cross combinations right down the pipe forcing Inaba to crash in hard allowing Ditcheva to establish her clinch tenderizing the body with knees and smashing elbows into her foe’s head. For a performance full of positives Ditcheva was visibly disappointed with being unable to get the finish for the second time in her career and possibly having broken her left hand in her first fight after being sidelined for eight-months.
The long-awaited PFL debut of the final Bellator Light Heavyweight champion Corey Anderson who moved up to Heavyweight was a successful one after an adjustment. It was a hard first round for Anderson who was kept at bay by Denis Goltsov’s jab. Anderson picked up his pace in the seconds overwhelming Goltsov in the clinch and once they hit the ground Anderson took it up another level earning a second round TKO.
The main card also saw AJ McKee win a unanimous decision over Russian wrestler Akhmed Magomedov. On the feet it was McKee and his creativity doing the damage. While Magomedov was effective at getting the bout to the ground it was McKee threatening submissions off his back.
And the Khabib Nurmagomedov trained Artur Zaynukov out wrestling Japanese Greco Olympian Takeshi Izumi for a decision win.
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