Title Fight Preview: Johnny Eblen vs. Impa Kasanganay
Van Steenis is out. The PFL's first-ever interim middleweight title is the prize now, and it goes to whoever settles the score between Johnny Eblen and Impa Kasanganay when they meet for the second time at Moody Center in Austin on July 18.
Costello van Steenis was scheduled to defend the PFL Middleweight World Championship against Eblen in a title rematch that the division had been building toward since July 2025. An injury forced van Steenis out, and the PFL moved fast: Kasanganay steps in, the interim belt gets created for the first time in PFL history, and the winner inherits both the interim title and the next shot at van Steenis when he returns.
The fighters already know each other. Eblen won by split decision in February 2024 at the historic PFL vs. Bellator champions event, a close and contested result that left Kasanganay with plenty of reason to believe he should have had his hand raised. That fight was a middleweight title bout. This one is too.
Tale of the Tape
| Johnny Eblen | Impa Kasanganay | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 34 | 32 |
| Height | 6'3" (190 cm) | 5'11" (180 cm) |
| Reach | 73.6" (187 cm) | 74.8" (190 cm) |
| Stance | — | Orthodox |
| Record | 17-1-0 | 20-6-0 |
| KO rate | 35% | 25% |
| Sub rate | 12% | 20% |
| Team | American Top Team | Kill Cliff FC |
Recent Fights: Johnny Eblen
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Battle | Win | Submission (RNC, R1) | March 2026 |
| Costello van Steenis | Loss | Submission (R5) | July 2025 |
| Fabian Edwards | Win | Decision (R5) | October 2024 |
| Impa Kasanganay | Win | Decision (R3) | February 2024 |
Recent Fights: Impa Kasanganay
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton Rosta | Win | TKO (R1) | March 2026 |
| Fabian Edwards | Loss | KO (R2) | April 2025 |
| Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov | Loss | KO | November 2024 |
| Josh Silveira | Win | Decision (R3) | August 2024 |
How They Got Here
Eblen was the inaugural PFL Middleweight World Champion and came into the van Steenis fight in July 2025 on a 15-fight win streak dating back to the start of his career. Van Steenis submitted him in the fifth round, ending the streak and stripping him of the belt. Eblen came back in March 2026 and ended things quickly against Bryan Battle, submitting him with a rear naked choke in the first round. The path back to the title ran straight through Austin, and it still does — just with a different opponent.
Kasanganay is a former American kickboxing champion who won the 2023 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament. The move to middleweight was a significant step, and his first year at the weight produced mixed results. He suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov and Fabian Edwards before stopping Dalton Rosta in the first round at PFL Pittsburgh in March 2026 — the same card where Eblen was also fighting that night. Both men finished their opponents in round one. Both ended up here.
The Stylistic Matchup
Eblen's nickname is "Pressure" and it describes his game precisely. He initiates constantly, pushes forward, and is willing to make the fight ugly if the opening is there. He is effective on his feet but his preferred path to victory is the clinch, working the body, and eventually finding a takedown. His submission win over Battle came from exactly that sequence. Six knockout wins and two submission wins on his record — not a pure grappler, but a fighter who uses wrestling to set everything else up.
Kasanganay is longer at 74.8" reach despite being two inches shorter, and he brings elite athleticism to the middleweight limit. He is a volume striker who can also submit opponents when the striking lane closes. His KO losses suggest vulnerability to explosive power, but Yagshimuradov and Edwards are elite knockout artists. The more relevant data point is what Kasanganay does when the fight gets close — he has shown the ability to take a fight to the ground and finish.
The first bout was a grappling-heavy affair that went the distance. Eblen edged it, but the scorecards were split and the margin was thin. Expect the same template: Eblen looking to clinch and grind, Kasanganay looking to stay on the outside and use the reach advantage to land the cleaner strikes. Whether Kasanganay can defend the takedown more consistently than he did in their first meeting is the central technical question.
Intangibles
Eblen turned 34 in December. He is still physically at his peak for a grappler, but the van Steenis loss was a late-fight stoppage — he was gassed when van Steenis took over in the fifth. Conditioning under sustained pressure is the one thing that loss exposed. Against an athletic, long opponent who can extend the fight into the later rounds, that memory is part of the room.
Kasanganay is 32 and has competed at multiple weight classes. Both KO losses to Yagshimuradov and Edwards came by early stoppages — neither fight went past the second round. The KO vulnerability is real, but those were both aggressive knockout specialists. What has not been fully tested is how he responds to the grinding, clinch-heavy pressure Eblen brings across three or five rounds at middleweight.
This is neutral ground. Eblen trains at American Top Team in South Florida; Kasanganay is at Kill Cliff FC, also in Florida. Neither man has a home crowd advantage at Moody Center in Austin.
What a Win Means
For Eblen, it closes the loop. He left Bellator as the last middleweight world champion, came into the PFL and became the inaugural champion, then lost the belt to van Steenis in a fight that went deep. The interim title is the mechanism that puts him back in the undisputed championship conversation, and winning by finish here would be the loudest possible statement going into a unification fight.
For Kasanganay, a win completes one of the more unconventional championship runs in recent PFL history. He came into the promotion as a light heavyweight tournament winner. Moving down a weight class, absorbing two knockout losses, and then winning the interim middleweight title would demand that the division take him seriously as a long-term title holder — not just a stand-in opponent.
The Bigger Picture
Van Steenis is the undisputed PFL Middleweight World Champion. He submitted Eblen in July 2025 and has not lost inside the promotion. Whoever wins in Austin holds the interim belt, but the unification fight is the real prize — and that does not happen until van Steenis is cleared to compete.
The PFL middleweight division has genuine depth. Fabian Edwards knocked out Kasanganay and pushed Eblen. Bryan Battle and Dalton Rosta have tested the contenders. The interim title fight exists because of an injury, not a shortage of storylines, and it gives the winner real standing — not just as a placeholder, but as the number one middleweight in the promotion until van Steenis returns.
July 18. Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The first interim title in PFL history. Watch the opening rounds.