PFL books Costello van Steenis vs. Johnny Eblen 2 for Austin event headliner

Validation vs. redemption. That's how the PFL is billing one the biggest rematches in its history.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Costello van Steenis will put his middleweight championship on the line when he runs it back with Johnny Eblen in the main event of PFL Austin on July 18 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

The rematch will happen almost one year to the day that van Steenis (18-3) upset Eblen (17-1) with a shocking last-second submission to claim the PFL middleweight title, a result that earned the 2025 MMA Junkie Comeback of the Year and Submission of the Year. For more than 24 minutes, the fight was one-sided as Eblen dominated van Steenis and was seemingly on his way to another title defense. But that's when pulled a rabbit out of his and managed to slickly lock in a rear-naked choke to submit Eblen with 4:51 remaining in Round 5.

More: Johnny Eblen: Costello van Steenis title rematch PFL's 'biggest fight'

Since then, van Steenis has defended his belt, knocking out Fabian Edwards in the third round of their PFL Madrid headliner on March 20. One week later, Eblen rebounded from his championship loss by running through Bryan Battle for a first-round submission win in their PFL Pittsburgh main event.

Those victories set the stage for the highly anticipated rematch that van Steenis said he was hoping for.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: PFL Austin: Costello van Steenis vs. Johnny Eblen rematch booked