New Firelighter Takes Over: Costello Van Steenis Lights Up PFL Madrid Edition

When Costello van Steenis went down to Cape Town last July, it was as a 4-to-1 underdog. His opponent, the former Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen, had cruised to a 16-0 record in his pro career, and looked entirely suited to win the inaugural PFL middleweight title. Van Steenis was cast in the role of afterthought.

And for the better part of four and a half rounds, he was exactly that. Eblen controlled the fight with his wrestling, to the point that the South African crowd booed whenever Eblen shot in. The referee, in the drowse of these endless sequences, warned Eblen to work whenever the stalemates happened.

Then, late in the fight, within the context of the lull and in the deepest waters of the championship rounds as the clock was running down, van Steenis turned the thing cinematic . He snatched victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat in the most epic way possible. With Eblen on his back and 45 seconds left in the fight, he reversed the position, which jolted the crowd to life.

Van Steenis elbowed Eblen as he sagged on his knees, before sinking his right arm under Eblen’s chin. The tables had turned, and now the end was unfolding in slow motion. The thoughts that led to it had been muted, but they awakened.