PFL Champions Series 2
| PFL Champions Series 2: Eblen vs. van Steenis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for PFL Champions Series 2: Eblen vs. van Steenis | ||||
| Promotion | Professional Fighters League | |||
| Date | July 19, 2025 | |||
| Venue | GrandWest Arena | |||
| City | Cape Town, South Africa | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
PFL Champions Series 2: Eblen vs. van Steenis and 2025 PFL Africa 1: First Round was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Professional Fighters League that took place on July 19, 2025, at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa.[1][2][3][4]
Background
The event marked the promotion's debut in South Africa, which became the 14th country to held a PFL and WSOF event.[5] On May 20, the promotion announced that they’ve changed the date for their from July 26 to July 19 instead.[6]
A PFL Middleweight World Championship bout between current champion Johnny Eblen and Costello van Steenis headlined the event.[7]
The event also featured the quarterfinals of 2025 PFL Africa Tournament in a heavyweight and bantamweight divisions.[8]
At the weigh-ins, Shannon van Tonder weighed in at 136.2 pounds, 0.2 pounds over the bantamweight limit and he was fined a percentage of his purse, which went to Boule Godogo.[9]
Results
| PFL Champions Series 2 (DAZN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Costello van Steenis | def. | Johnny Eblen (c) | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 5 | 4:51 | [a] |
| Women's Flyweight | Dakota Ditcheva | def. | Sumiko Inaba | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | A. J. McKee | def. | Akhmed Magomedov | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Makkasharip Zaynukov | def. | Takeshi Izumi | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Corey Anderson | def. | Denis Goltsov | TKO (elbows) | 2 | 3:28 | |
| 2025 PFL Africa 1 (DAZN / PFL App) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Nkosi Ndebele | def. | Mahmoud Atef | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:50 | [b] |
| Heavyweight | Maxwell Djantou Nana | def. | Mickaël Groguhe | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [c] |
| Bantamweight | Boule Godogo | def. | Shannon van Tonder | Decision (split) (30–26, 28–29, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [d] |
| Heavyweight | Justin Clarke | def. | Jashell Ticha Awa | TKO (retirement) | 1 | 5:00 | [e] |
| Bantamweight | Karim Henniene | def. | Asiashu Tshitamba | Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [f] |
| Heavyweight | Joffie Houlton | def. | Abdoullah Kane | DQ (illegal knee) | 1 | 0:40 | [g] |
| Bantamweight | Simbarashe Hokonya | def. | Frans Mlambo | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–25) | 3 | 5:00 | [h] |
| Heavyweight | Abraham Bably | def. | Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:59 | [i] |
| Women's Strawweight | Juliet Ukah | def. | Ceileigh Niedermayr | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- ^ For the PFL Middleweight World Championship.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal; van Tonder missed weight (136.2 lb).
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal. Mlambo was deducted one point in round 2 due to illegal elbows to back of head.
- ^ 2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
Tournament brackets
2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
 Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze[a] | 1 | |||||||||
| Abraham Bably | KO | |||||||||
| Abraham Bably | ||||||||||
 Joffie Houlton | ||||||||||
| Joffie Houlton[b] | DQ | |||||||||
 Abdoullah Kane | 1 | |||||||||
 | ||||||||||
| | ||||||||||
 Justin Clarke | TKO | |||||||||
 Jashell Ticha Awa | 1 | |||||||||
| Justin Clarke | ||||||||||
| Maxwell Djantou Nana | ||||||||||
| Maxwell Djantou Nana | UD | |||||||||
| Mickaël Groguhe | 3 | |||||||||
2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Nkosi Ndebele | TKO | |||||||||
 Mahmoud Atef | 1 | |||||||||
| Nkosi Ndebele | ||||||||||
 Simbarashe Hokonya | ||||||||||
| Frans Mlambo[a] | 3 | |||||||||
| Simbarashe Hokonya | UD | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
| | ||||||||||
| Shannon van Tonder | 3 | |||||||||
 Boule Godogo | SD | |||||||||
| Boule Godogo | ||||||||||
 Karim Henniene | ||||||||||
| Asiashu Tshitamba[b] | 3 | |||||||||
| Karim Henniene | SD | |||||||||
See also
References
- ^ "Professional Fighters League Launches PFL Africa With Historic Mega Event In Cape Town". Professional Fighters League. 2025-05-07. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Cruz, Guilherme (2025-05-07). "Johnny Eblen, Dakota Ditcheva return at PFL Cape Town". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Law, Eddie (2025-05-07). "PFL Africa Set For July 26 Date In Cape Town Featuring Ditcheva, Eblen". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Holland, Jesse (2025-05-07). "PFL Africa debut announced for July 26 in Cape Town, featuring return of Dakota Ditcheva". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ "PFL confirms PFL Africa launch with Cape town event". Sportcal.com. 2025-05-07. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Law, Eddie (2025-05-20). "PFL Africa 1 Event In Cape Town Rescheduled For July 19". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "Johnny Eblen, Dakota Ditcheva to compete in inaugural PFL Africa event in July". MMA Junkie. 2025-05-07. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Professional Fighters League Announces PFL Africa Launch; Debut Set for July 26". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Treese, Tyler. "2025 PFL Africa 1 Weigh-in Results: Title Fight Set; 1 Fighter Heavy". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
- ^ "PFL Champions Series 2: Eblen vs. van Steenis". Professional Fighters League. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
- ^ "2025 PFL Africa 1: First Round". Professional Fighters League. Retrieved 2025-06-10.