Costello van Steenis laughs heartily when asked what it was like to learn mixed martial arts around Benidorm.
“Why do you think my English is so good?” he jokes.
“There’s a lot of English people there, they make a big show of it and they’re the number one drinkers that’s for sure – but they’re really funny.”
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Benidorm is a city on the Mediterranean coast famous for its British holiday-goers, with around 830,000 visiting in 2024.
Van Steenis was born in the Netherlands but moved to Altea, a town about 20 minutes drive away from Benidorm, as a youngster.
It was there he fell in love with MMA by watching fighters such as American pair Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, before training and competing in a number of local amateur fights around Benidorm where he would compete up to three times per night.
While Van Steenis was winning most of these fights, aged 20, the city’s party scene offered a distraction to his future ambitions in the sport.
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After a discussion with his father about wanting to take MMA more seriously, he decided the only way to further his career would be to move back to the Netherlands.
“That’s one of the reasons I moved away. Spain has beautiful weather, beautiful people, a lot of distractions and a lot of partying,” says Van Steenis.
“You want to have your focus and the people around you [in Benidorm] don’t have their focus, but that’s what you need.
“It’s crazy, you can do everything there, but that’s also why I moved away – it was too nice.”
Van Steenis describes Benidorm as “beautiful and feels like home”, and while he says he wants to move back one day, his career is the priority right now.
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On Friday, the 33-year-old will headline the biggest MMA event to ever take place in Spain at PFL Madrid when he defends his middleweight title against Britain’s Fabian Edwards.
The 32-year-old Edwards is looking to become champion of his division at the third attempt following defeats by Johnny Eblen in 2023 and 2024 for the Bellator title.
‘He’s grown but I’ve grown levels above’
With the UFC and other major MMA promotions never holding an event in Spain, the PFL’s event at the Palacio Vistalegre represents a landmark moment.
The delay largely comes down to the country not having any MMA world champions to rally behind, but that changed in 2024 when Ilia Topuria won the UFC featherweight title.
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UFC president Dana White wanted to capitalise on Topuria’s reign by hosting an event in Spain, but the PFL acted first following Van Steenis’ success over American Eblen last year for the PFL middleweight belt.
It’s a “dream come true” for Van Steenis to be defending his belt in Spain and can already feel the buzz from the capital.
He adds there are more than 6,000 posters in Madrid promoting the Edwards fight, while he’s had to turn down multiple interview requests from Spanish media so he “can focus on training”.
“I don’t know what’s bigger – winning the title or going to Madrid,” says Van Steenis.
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“There’s going to be about 10 Spanish people fighting on the PFL card, one of the biggest MMA platforms in the world. In their home country. This opens the gate for MMA in Spain.”
One of the 10 Spanish fighters in action is Van Steenis’ younger brother Gino, with the pair competing on the same card for the first time.
“My dad said if my grandad was still alive he would be so proud of you guys,” adds Van Steenis.
“We’re living the dream now, but not just me and my brother, it’s my whole family. We’re all sharing the same dream, work and sacrifices.”
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He and Birmingham-based Edwards – brother of former UFC welterweight champion Leon – fought before in 2020 with the Dutch-Spaniard winning on a split decision.
Since then Van Steenis has won five of his six fights, while Edwards has triumphed in seven of 10.
Edwards knocked out Dalton Rosta in August to win the PFL’s 2025 middleweight tournament and earn a title shot.
“We’re a lot better now than we were six years ago, we were both two kids compared to now,” adds Van Steenis.
“He’s grown but I’ve grown levels above and I’m going to prove that on 20 March.
“Of course he’s good, I know his reach is long and he’s fast, but I’ve been training for Fabian since November.”
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