Costello van Steenis’ PFL championship reign has been quite impressive.
“The Spaniard” won the PFL middleweight title last year by putting to sleep then-undefeated champion Johnny Eblen with a rear-naked choke and has now completed his first title defense by also sleeping Fabian Edwards, but this time with hellish elbows. Van Steenis (18-3) put away Edwards (13-4) in vicious fashion Friday in the main event of PFL Madrid at Palacio Vistalegre in Spain.
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With back-to-back stoppage wins in championship fights, van Steenis’ confidence is at an all-time high, and he firmly believes he’s the best fighter right now at 185 pounds.
“PFL has the best middleweight in the world,” van Steenis said to the PFL Madrid broadcast team. “Of course, I have some losses. I’m not undefeated. But if you’re undefeated, it doesn’t mean that you’re the best. You have to show it in style and for now, I’ve finished my last four fights.”
Van Steenis’ vicious KO came after Edwards, who’s primarily known as a striker, shot for a double leg and pressed van Steenis against the cage. It was an approach that many didn’t expect, including the champ himself.
“He went for a takedown, and I was like, ‘Oh, sh*t. Why is he doing that? He’s uncomfortable. I think he’s nervous,'” van Steenis recalled. “I didn’t feel him stronger than me at all, so I just let him have it, and I’ll take my rest. I went back to the cage. I saw him sitting down, breathing really heavily, so I was like, ‘Oh, this guy is tired already.’ I don’t know. Maybe he had something in his personal life.”
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Van Steenis believes Edwards’ surprising approach and strategy came from a lack of confidence, something he felt during fight week.
“Yeah, I was really surprised,” van Steenis said. “I noticed that he was really nervous because I saw him a couple of times in the lobby of the hotel, and he was acting weird, a little bit in a disrespectful way. He wasn’t disrespectful, but he was listening to loud music, and you’ve got signs that he was a little bit uncomfortable, so he was trying to shut himself out. I noticed the way he was looking at me. In the first fight he was really cocky and aggressive, and this time he didn’t look t me that much.”
Van Steenis and Edwards had first fought six years ago in 2020. The bout ended by split decision in favor of the Spaniard. With this win, van Steenis now finds himself on an impressive four-fight winning streak. Van Steenis’ last defeat came in 2023. It was a unanimous decision loss to Douglas Lima.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Costello van Steenis: ‘PFL has the best middleweight in the world’
