Top 5: Costello van Steenis finishes

“The Spaniard” laid claim to the inaugural
Professional Fighters League middleweight championship when he
put the previously unbeaten Johnny
Eblen to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the fifth round of
their
PFL Champions Series 2 main event on July 19, 2025 at GrandWest
Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. Van Steenis squeezed the American
into another dimension 4:51 into Round 5.

A Middleweight
World Title Fight headlines PFL Madrid: Tune in LIVE, Friday, March
20 at 12 p.m. ET.

Eblen asserted himself across the first 15 minutes with clinches,
takedowns and stifling top control, though his efforts put a
noticeable strain on his gas tank. Van Steenis started to turn the
tide in the fourth round, where he leaned into his jab—sometimes
two or three at a time—and paired it leg kicks, teeps to the
midsection, knees to the body and occasional elbow strikes. Eblen
retreated to his corner between periods bleeding from multiple cuts
and visibly fatigued. The
American Top Team rep executed a pair of takedowns in Round 5
but failed to keep his counterpart bottled up when it mattered
most. Van Steenis initiated a late scramble, wheeled behind the
former University of Missouri wrestler, secured his position with
hooks and weaved his arms in place for the choke. Though time was
on Eblen’s side, he lost consciousness with just nine seconds
remaining on the clock.

As van Steenis prepares to defend his middleweight crown against
Fabian
Edwards when their rematch headlines
PFL Madrid on Friday at Vistalegre Arena Palace in Spain, his
dramatic submission of Eblen certainly ranks as one of his most
memorable finishes. Four others to consider:

Costello
van Steenis vs. Steve
Skrzat

Bellator 185
Oct. 20, 2017 | Uncasville, Connecticut
Van Steenis arrived in the Bellator
MMA organization and made a sensational first impression when
he struck the Rhode Island native into submission in the first
round of their middleweight prelim at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Skrzat
packed his bags 2:52 into Round 1. Van Steenis hit the deck after
absorbing a low kick and lured the American into his guard. Skrzat
applied his ground-and-pound, then sat back on an ill-advised leg
lock attempt that set off a scramble. Van Steenis trapped him in
modified triangle and cut loose with a series of blistering elbows
that resulted in significant damage. Bleeding profusely and with no
obvious exit available to him, Skrzat made the decision to issue
his surrender.

Costello
van Steenis vs. Mike
Shipman

Bellator 223
June 22, 2019 | London
Van Steenis buried the
London Shootfighters export with punches in the second round of
their middleweight prelim at SSE Arena. Shipman, who entered the
cage on a 13-fight winning streak, succumbed to blows 1:34 into
Round 2. The Englishman had van Steenis on his heels initially, as
he pursued a clinch and attacked with knees to the back of the legs
and short punches, then threatened with a front choke. However,
“The Spaniard” short-circuited Shipman’s momentum with a takedown
of his own and managed to reset between rounds. Van Steenis invited
“Seabass” in the clinch in the middle stanza, floored him with a
close-range elbow strike and unleashed a hailstorm of punches to
prompt the stoppage.

Costello
van Steenis vs. Kamil
Oniszczuk

Bellator 287
Oct. 29, 2022 | Milan, Italy
Van Steenis accelerated his climb on the middleweight ladder when
he put away the
Kill Cliff Fight Club product with a second-round brabo choke
as part of the undercard at Allianz Cloud Arena. Oniszczuk, who had
never before been finished, clocked out 3:02 into Round 2. Van
Steenis showed no signs of rust in his first appearance in more
than two years. He targeted Oniszczuk’s base with low kicks, beat
up the Pole in the clinch and even mixed in a takedown. Van
Steenis’ work in the first round set the stage for the decisive
second. There, he stepped into an overhand right and pieced
together an exquisite multi-strike volley. Oniszczuk moved in for
an attempted takedown out of desperation and wandered into the
brabo choke. Van Steenis constricted, closed off avenues of escape
and elicited the tapout.

Costello
van Steenis vs. Joao
Dantas

2024 PFL Season Championships
Nov. 29, 2024 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Van Steenis let his intentions be known in his first Professional
Fighters League assignment, as he brought down the Brazilian with a
head kick less than a minute into their middleweight prelim at King
Saud University Stadium. Dantas met his end a cool 48 seconds into
Round 1. Van Steenis greeted him with kicks to the inside and
outside of his lead leg, then shifted his target. He connected with
a crushing rear-leg head kick that dropped Dantas where he stood.
The Team Alan Galvao representative was unconscious before he hit
the mat. It remains the only sub-minute stoppage of van Steenis’
career.