Mixed Martial Arts history was made in Cape Town on Saturday as the inaugural season of PFL Africa started with a bang at the Grand Arena in GrandWest. Costello Van Steenis closed out the show with an incredible comeback submission win to capture the PFL Middleweight World Championship, and Dakota Ditcheva shone in the co-main event to remain undefeated, while fighters from the bantamweight and heavyweight divisions advanced in the inaugural PFL Africa Tournament.
Main event
In the main event, Costello “The Spaniard” Van Steenis (17-3), pulled off one of the biggest comeback wins in MMA history, submitting previously undefeated Johnny “Pressure” Eblen (16-1) with just seconds left in the fifth and final round to become the new PFL Middleweight World Champion.
Eblen, who came into the fight as the defending champion, was seemingly on his way to a unanimous decision win after controlling almost the entirety of the five-round war. In the dying seconds of the fifth round, Van Steenis managed to take Eblen’s back and sink in the rear-naked choke, putting the former champion to sleep and shocking the MMA world.
Co-main event
In the co-main event, 2024 PFL Women’s Flyweight Champion “Dangerous” Dakota Ditcheva (15-0) of the United Kingdom put on a striking masterclass as she demolished Sumiko “Lady Samurai” Inaba (8-2) of the United States to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Itcheva’s elite Muay Thai was on full display as she punished Inaba with an arsenal of punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and devastating clinch work.
Featherweight division
Former Bellator Featherweight Champion AJ “Mercenary” McKee (23-2) of the United States was successful in his return to 145 pounds as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Russia’s Akhmed Magomedov (11-2). Out to prove that he’s still “the baddest man” in the Featherweight division, McKee turned in a well-rounded performance as he outstruck and outgrappled Magomedov for all three rounds to get the impressive win.
Russian grappling machine Artur Zaynukov (16-4) extended his winning streak to six with a dominant unanimous decision win over Japanese up-and-comer Takeshi Izumi (6-4). A member of the famed Eagles MMA stable in Dagestan, Zaynukov trains alongside world champions like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Usman Nurmagomedov, and Islam Makhachev, and it was evident all throughout the fight.
PFL Champions Series:
Kicking off the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai Cape Town card, reigning Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Corey “Overtime” Anderson (19-6, 1 NC) returned to the Heavyweight division and scored a second-round TKO win over 2024 PFL Heavyweight Champion Denis “The Russian Bogatyr” Goltsov (36-9). It was Goltsov who was landing the better shots early on, but Anderson, who returned to the Heavyweight Division for the first time since 2013, responded in the second round with a body shot that took the wind out of the Russian.
Anderson pounced on Goltsov and finished things off with some vicious ground and pound for the stoppage win.
Divisions
Following exciting First Round bouts, the Semifinal matchups were finalised in the Bantamweight and Heavyweight Divisions. It will be Nkosi Ndebele (9-3) taking on Simbarashe Hokonya (6-0) and Boule Godogo (4-0) facing Karim Henniene (5-0) in the Bantamweight Division, while the Heavyweight pairings will be Maxwell Djantou Nana (7-1) versus Justin Clarke (3-0), and Joffie Houlton (8-4) against Abraham Bably (6-2).
The First Round of the inaugural 2025 PFL Africa season continues on Saturday 9 August from the Big Top Arena, Carnival City, Johannesburg, South Africa, with fighters in the Featherweight and Welterweight Divisions competing for a shot at glory.
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