Johnny Eblen knocks out Impa Kasanganay at PFL Austin, eyes unification bout against Costello van Steenis

TEXAS: No.1-ranked Johnny “Pressure” Eblen (18-1) became the PFL interim middleweight world champion in the main event at PFL Austin after knocking out No. 3 Impa “Tshilobo” Kasanganay (20-7) in a thrilling third round.

With the current world champion Costello van Steenis sitting cage side at Moody Center, Eblen made it known that he plans to unify the division and right his wrongs from their first outing when “The Spaniard” snatched the title from the jaws of defeat in July 2025.

In the co-main event, Rafael “Mulisha” do Nascimento (13-2) announced himself to the PFL bantamweight division with a statement win over the Manchester marauder Lewis “The McGrizzla” McGrillen (12-2).

The Brazilian was relentless as he took McGrillen’s back and locked in a slick rear-naked choke to force the Englishman to tap out in the second round.

Also on the card, veteran Julio Arce (22-7) shut down Caolan “The Don” Loughran (11-4) and won via unanimous decision. It was a back-and-forth contest for all three rounds, but in the end, it was Arce who picked up the decision victory.

And in the main card opener, the always dangerous Jesus “El Mudo” Pinedo (26-8-1) returned to winning ways in Texas as he defeated Joey “El Cazador” Ruquet (10-5) via TKO in the opening round.

With just seconds to go in the first round, Pinedo unloaded a flurry of punches that overwhelmed Ruquet, leading to the finish. Mainstay of the featherweight division and only 30, the Peruvian has his eyes set on returning to the top.