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Fighter Profile: Costello van Steenis

Costello van Steenis: PFL middleweight world champion — record, submission game and 2026 defence.

Fighters13 July 2026

Background

Born in the Netherlands and raised in Spain, van Steenis fights under the nickname “The Spaniard” and is the inaugural PFL middleweight world champion. His professional record is 18-3.

Career timeline

Competed for Bellator before moving into the PFL following the promotions’ merger.
Won the PFL middleweight world title in July 2025, submitting Johnny Eblen with a rear-naked choke with just nine seconds left in the fifth round at PFL Africa — a major upset.
Defended the title at PFL Madrid in May 2026, knocking out Fabian Edwards on home soil.
Withdrew from a scheduled rematch with Eblen at PFL Austin on 18 July 2026 with a training injury, prompting the PFL to book its first interim middleweight title fight. Eblen won that interim belt.

Fight craft

Van Steenis is a submission-first middleweight who is willing to lose exchanges to get to grappling range, and whose finishing instinct in the closing minutes has now decided a championship fight. The Eblen win was the clearest example — behind on the cards and out of time, he found the choke anyway. The Madrid defence added evidence of real punching power. His record’s three losses point to the same gap: opponents who can control where the fight takes place have generally been able to keep it out of his best positions.

In the modern MMA landscape

Our wider MMA analysis describes van Steenis as a champion who “was forced to withdraw from a scheduled defence due to injury”, which skips his actual title defence — he knocked out Fabian Edwards at PFL Madrid in May 2026 before the withdrawal. He remains the undisputed champion, with Eblen now holding an interim belt and a unification rematch the obvious next step.

Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.

Sources

Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.