Costello Van Steenis on Paul, Topuria, Eblen, Mousasi

Costello Van Steenis will vie for Johnny Eblen's middleweight belt at PFL Africa 1 on July 19th.

Van Steenis appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and touched on multiple topics like: -if this inaugural PFL Africa card feels like a massive moment in his career, and for the promotion by proxy

-the influence of Francis Ngannou as the PFL Africa chairman and if it's a great time to be part of the PFL fold here

-Eblen being on his radar for a while in the context of his thoughts on the champ's resume and overall skillset

-his prior fight marking his PFL debut, scoring a sub-one-minute KO, and if it felt a great deal different fighting under their banner compared to his Bellator MMA tenure

-previously fighting Jake Bostwick, who also infamously sparred Jake Paul ahead of Paul's fight with Ben Askren, in the context of his thoughts on the Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight this weekend

-many people seeing Eblen as one of, if not the best, middleweight MMA fighters today in the context of where a win here would put him in the overall hierarchy of 185-pound fighters in the sport

-if it adds a certain chip on his shoulder to be overlooked by many leading into this fight against the unbeaten middleweight champion

-what the headlines will read after this PFL Africa 1 title fight

-his history training with Gegard Mousasi and the former multi-promotion champion potentially being done as an MMA fighter

-Mousasi having the prior experience of fighting Eblen, and what insights the former has given him for fighting the latter here

-wanting to bring the belt and also a PFL event back to Spain

-MMA fighters who put on for Spain in the context of his thoughts on Ilia Topuria's fight this weekend vs. Charles Oliveira at UFC 317