PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series 2

Started 351 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes ago

Date & Time
Sat 19th July 2025 Local
Sat 19th July 2025 6:00pm UTC

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League
Professional Fighters League

Season
2025

Round
Round 13

Status
FT

Location

Video Highlights

Play on YouTube

Event Statistics

Description

The PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai, hosted in Cape Town served as a historic milestone as the promotion’s first-ever event on the African continent. The main card at GrandWest Arena featured a "champion vs. champion" showcase, with light heavyweight king Corey Anderson moving up to heavyweight to challenge 2024 champion Denis Goltsov. Additionally, the event acted as the official launch of the PFL Africa Tournament, featuring eight-man brackets in the bantamweight and heavyweight divisions. The atmosphere in Cape Town was electric, with local fans eager to see if African talent could hold their own against the PFL’s established global elite.

Reports

Result List

01	Costello van Steenis	PFL Middleweight	WIN
01	Johnny Eblen	PFL Middleweight	LOSS
02	Dakota Ditcheva	PFL Womens Flyweight	WIN
02	Sumiko Inaba	PFL Womens Flyweight	LOSS
03	A.J. McKee	PFL Featherweight	WIN
03	Akhmed Magomedov	PFL Featherweight	LOSS
05	Corey Anderson	PFL Heavyweight	WIN
05	Denis Goltsov	PFL Heavyweight	LOSS

Result Description

Costello van Steenis authored one of the most significant upsets in PFL history, submitting the previously undefeated middleweight champion Johnny Eblen in the fifth round of their title clash. For nearly 24 minutes, Eblen appeared on his way to a routine decision victory, utilizing his superior wrestling to control the tempo. However, with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, van Steenis locked in a brilliant rear-naked choke that forced a technical submission as Eblen lost consciousness. This stunning "miracle in Cape Town" ended Eblen’s perfect 16-0 record and crowned van Steenis as the new PFL Middleweight World Champion.

The rest of the card delivered equally high-stakes drama and dominant performances. Dakota Ditcheva maintained her perfect record with a clinical unanimous decision over Sumiko Inaba, while A.J. McKee utilized his veteran savvy to outpoint Akhmed Magomedov in a tactical featherweight battle. In the heavyweight showcase, Corey Anderson proved his power translates to the higher weight class by stopping Denis Goltsov via TKO in the second round. Meanwhile, the PFL Africa portion of the night saw local favorite Nkosi Ndebele thrill the home crowd with a first-round TKO victory, advancing in the bantamweight tournament alongside other standout winners like Abraham Bably and Simbarashe Hokonya.

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