Night of big match-ups and epic battles

 The inaugural Professional Fighters League (PFL) fight night at GrandWest’s Grand Arena on Saturday certainly lived up to expectations with a packed house, bumper match-ups, and epic battles. The Arena buzzed with fight fans, celebrities, and influencers, but the gladiators who stepped into the cage were the real stars of the night.

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 battle. In the dying seconds of the fifth round, Van Steenis managed to take Eblen’s back and sink in the rear-naked choke and put the former champion to sleep.

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.

Ditcheva’s elite Muay Thai was on full display as she punished Inaba with an arsenal of punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and devastating clinch work. The ultra-tough Inaba was as game as they come, continuing to push forward all fight long. In the end, however, “Dangerous” Dakota was just too much for the Hawaiian as she cruised to a dominant win.

In other action, former Bellator featherweight champion, AJ “Mercenary” McKee (23-2) was successful in his return to 145-pounds as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Russia’s Akhmed Magomedov (11-2). The American turned in a well-rounded performance as he out-struck and out-grappled 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, as was evident all throughout the fight. From bell to bell, Zaynukov was able to take Izumi down at will and control the pace of the fight en route to a clear-cut decision win.

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.