Johnny Eblen looks to get back on track when he headlines PFL Pittsburgh on Saturday after suffering the first loss of his career following a Hail Mary submission from Costello van Steenis that ended their fight in dramatic fashion back in July 2025.
Less than six months later as he awaited word on his next fight, Eblen signed a new deal to remain with PFL rather than potentially test free agency. While he was the reigning Bellator middleweight champion, the 34-year-old fighter constantly fielded questions about how he stacks up against opponents from other organizations such as the UFC and it almost felt like an inevitability he would end up signing there.
Instead, Eblen re-upped with PFL with his next fight booked against UFC veteran Bryan Battle on Saturday.
“It just made sense,” Eblen told MMA Fighting about his decision to say with PFL. “The money made sense. Also, my last fight was a loss and part of me wants to get that loss back and go out on a high note. I’m technically still not a PFL champion.
“So in a perfect world, I want to be a champion in every promotion that I come across. I think this is something I need to do and it’s part of the process. Everything made sense. Everything lined up. Everybody that was in my corner agreed with me.”
As much as Eblen wants to be considered the best middleweight in the world, regardless of where he’s fighting, he also recognizes that this is his career so money and opportunity also have to play a part in his decision making.
Ultimately, Eblen says PFL stepped up to show how much he mattered to the promotion and that led to his new contract.
“If the money makes sense and there’s still some unfinished business in the promotion,” Eblen said. “There was enough for me to stay. Everything kind of lined up. I talked to some people, they weighed in and eventually I came to the decision.
“I think it’s a smart decision for now. I still have a long career to go. I started a little bit late. I see myself fighting four or five or six more years, at least. That’s plenty of time.”
Following his loss, Eblen expected his next fight would come in an immediate rematch considering he was dominating van Steenis for the majority of their five-round battle until Eblen was caught with the rear-naked choke that took away his undefeated record.
In the end, PFL decided to give Fabian Edwards the first shot at the new champion after he tore through the final season-long tournament that concluded in 2025. Edwards went on to suffer a knockout loss to van Steenis at PFL Madrid this past weekend.
As much as he wanted that fight back, Eblen expects that’s what’s next for him once he gets through Battle this weekend.
“At first, I was disappointed,” Eblen said. “I thought I earned a rematch. I’ve been a reigning champion for three years, hadn’t been beaten, winning the whole fight, ended up losing in the last few seconds. I thought it deserved a rematch. A lot of people want to see that rematch. They went the other way and sometimes that’s just how life is.
“You don’t get everything you want sometimes and you have to roll with the punches. I got over it and moved past it and now I have my goal set on Bryan Battle. It’s going to be a fun fight and I’m excited for it and I’m excited for what’s coming after.”
Coming back from his first loss is a new experience for Eblen but truth be told, he was never obsessed with having an undefeated record.
More than anything, Eblen says the loss to van Steenis mostly hurt because he was winning so dominantly until he lost in the fifth and final round.
“I wasn’t taking an ass beating,” Eblen said. “It was actually the other way around. I just got tired. I didn’t come in with the best game plan. My game plan was to steamroll him and I was streamrolling him but I didn’t get him out of there. Wasted too much gas early on and I paid for it. I guess it makes it a little bit easier. I could have been a lot worse and it didn’t, that wasn’t the case.
“It was more just an ego hit. It sucks. I would wake up in the middle of the night and be like ‘f*ck!’ I’d be pissed off about it but eventually that shit went away. I kind of got over it. It was what it was and I moved past it.”
The goal now is beating Battle at PFL Pittsburgh and then put all his attention on that rematch against van Steenis, which almost feels like a lock now that the new champion has already defended his title with the win over Edwards.
Nothing is guaranteed but Eblen just doesn’t see any other scenario but a title shot if he gets the job done in his fight against Battle.
“I really want to get that rematch back,” Eblen said. “I want to get that loss back. I think that’s kind of what PFL is trying to set up here. It makes sense. I feel like I should have gotten an immediate rematch but I’m going to move past that. I just want to back out there, get a win, have fun and make some money.”
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