MMA: Costello van Steenes ended Fabian Edwards’ title dream again in La Liga Madrid

Edwards earned a title shot after winning the 2025 PFL Middleweight Championship, and was looking to become champion after two losses to Johnny Eblin for the middleweight title in Bellator.

Edwards was also looking to join his brother Leon, the former UFC welterweight champion, as titleholders, but was made to pay for a number of misses.

The event was watched by a number of sporting stars in the cage, including Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, Thibaut Courtois and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was left out of coach Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad earlier on Friday.

After takedowns in which a confident Edwards was jeered by Spanish fans and a determined-looking Van Steenis roared to the cage, the contest began with trading leg kicks.

In a close first round, Edwards made his first mistake when Van Steenes reversed the move on the ground to finish in first place, despite blood streaming from his left eye.

In tactics rarely used by Edwards, the Briton looked to attack with takedowns, but Van Steenis excelled in the early exchanges by flipping the momentum to control the direction of the fight.

When Edwards elected to strike, he looked faster and more dangerous than Van Steenes, but another error in the third round would have been his downfall.

Edwards continued to wrestle again, and while trying to take Van Stennis into the cage, the champion hit with elbows, forcing the Briton to collapse to his knees.

Seeing that Edwards was in trouble, the referee stepped in to end the game, before Van Steenes raised his arms in celebration and closed his eyes to the applause of the home crowd.

It just got sweeter for the Dutch-Spanish man with his victory in front of his country’s fans in the biggest MMA event held in Spain.

With the UFC yet to host an event in Spain, the PBA took advantage when Van Stennis became champion in July by building a card around him.

Van Steenis, who grew up around Benidorm before returning to the Netherlands, said competing in front of his home fans was a “dream come true”.

While it was sad for the Edwards brothers, the Van Steenes siblings – including Costello’s younger brother Gino, who earned a knockout on the undercard – celebrated a fantasy night.

“It went exactly the way I wanted it to,” Van Steenis said.

“I didn’t do this alone, thanks to the public. This is the best country in the world. We are the best country in the world.”

Edwards now faces the task of rebuilding but has shown his recovery abilities previously in his career.

The PBA does not boast a particularly deep roster of contenders in the middleweight division, and a few wins would likely put Edwards back in title contention.