A PFL middleweight title rematch between Costello van Steenis and Johnny Eblen has been scheduled for July 18, officials announced Wednesday.
The 185-pound championship bout will headline a PFL card at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The rematch has felt inevitable since van Steenis (18-3) shocked Eblen (17-1) in the final seconds of their first meeting last July. Eblen was well on his way to claiming the PFL's vacant middleweight belt, until van Steenis caught him in a rear-naked choke with just nine seconds remaining for the submission victory.
Van Steenis recorded the first defense of his title against Fabian Edwards on March 20, while Eblen rebounded from the loss with a first-round finish of Bryan Battle a week later to set up the rematch with van Steenis.
"Being in Madrid for Costello's finish of Fabian Edwards and then in Pittsburgh one week later for Johnny's dominant win over Bryan Battle, you could feel immediately that this story wasn't finished," PFL CEO John Martin told ESPN. "Their first fight had everything you want in a championship moment: elite skill on display, drama, controversy and a finish people are still talking about.
"It's a world championship rematch with massive stakes, real tension and two fighters who genuinely believe they have something to prove. For Costello, it's about validation. For Johnny, it's about redemption."
Prior to the loss, Eblen had put himself into the conversation as one of the best middleweights in the world, regardless of promotion. The former Bellator MMA champion technically lost his championship status last year when the PFL cleaned up its title structure and did away with Bellator MMA title fights, but he was widely viewed as the favorite against van Steenis the first time around.