PFL Africa 1: Cape Town 2025 - Saturday, July 19
PFL has finally made its long-awaited debut in Africa, with someone who is not Francis Ngannou in the main event slot. Donn Davis is negligently incompetent.
Main Card
Bellator Middleweight Title - Johnny Eblen vs Costello van Steenis
Hark.
Do ye hear? Do ye feel?
Deep rumblings in the bowels of the earth. A long slumbering evil rises once more to befoul the land. It is the Bellator middleweight division, come again to poison our idyllic mixed martial arts landscape. What vile magicks have conspired to resurrect this shambling monstrosity once more? Whither is Bjorn Rebney’s phylactery that might return this ancient terror to its final resting place? Keep a weather eye upon Mexico that the plague might one day be dispelled.
Johnny Eblen is back in action, once more displaying the petrified corpse of Bellator in the form of this title, severed from any connection to our current championship timeline, and ultimately, reality writ large. This belt forces us to ponder, what does it mean to be a champion of a promotion that no longer exists? How can someone represent the absolute pinnacle of a fighting organization when there is nobody else sheltered under the umbrella of that organization? I could glibly answer that ONE’s entire MMA wing is the prime example of that, but at least ONE’s athletes can still take fights in kickboxing, Muay Thai, and grappling under the ONE banner.
Eblen, though, is the last remaining Bellator priest, worshipping a dead god, callously slaughtered by a rival after peace had already been brokered. The title he carries proves nothing about the company it represents, it barely acknowledges Eblen as an above average fighter in the grand scheme of upper echelon MMA. He’s one step removed from Zack Ryder carrying the Internet title, simply promoting himself. Lord knows nobody else is.
Opposite him is Costello van Steenis, a man born in the Netherlands, fighting out of the Netherlands, yet is called “The Spaniard”. Weird colonialism at play? An oblique reference to the Habsburg dynasty, long-reigning kings of Spain? Or is it just that his parents are ethnically Spanish and I am the one being a weirdo about this? It is probably the latter. After all, Costello ain’t the one furtively clacking away nearly three thousand words about PFL Africa 1 for half a dozen people on the internet.
A mere three fights ago, he was the sad, lonely blip on Douglas Lima’s record, preventing him from going on a six fight losing streak. Has Costello since proved himself undeniable in the cage? Has he stood head and shoulders above the other competitors to be granted this bizarre title shot? He does, after all, have a submission victory over Gregory Babene and a KO over Joao Vitor Dantas, opponents readily described as two men. Or is he simply a placeholder, the last warm body remaining to keep Eblen busy while the PFL Middleweight tournament wraps up? Of course it's the latter. It’s never been anything but the latter.
Eblen’s a good wrestler with decent enough striking that mostly serves to get him in clinch range to rip start the grappling engine. His clinch striking is pretty good, but tends to focus on pressure and position.
Van Steenis might be Dutch, and yes, his last fight was a head kick knockout win, but he’s got more submissions on his record. He’s also going to look to grapple. The question is, who ends up on top?
The strongest memory I have of van Steenis is him losing to John Salter about six years ago, and Eblen’s a better grappler than Salter. Johnny Eblen wins by decision. Now let us speak naught of the Bellator Middleweight title for yet another year.
Flyweight - Dakota Ditcheva vs Sumiko Inaba
I have undergone a strong, ligament-wrenching pivot on Dakota Ditcheva. When she first showed up in PFL, I didn’t take much notice of her, seeing as she was in filler fights in 2022, and the 2023 PFL Europe tournament, which I admittedly did not care about or pay attention to, because when has a European regional champion ever amounted to anything of note? In the 2024 tournament, I felt she got easy matchmaking during the regular season, avoiding any combination of Liz Carmouche, Talia Santos, Juliana Velasquez, or Kana Watanabe. Because of her easier regular season opponents, she got fast finishes (Quicks Sixes!), leading to a number one seed in the playoffs, giving her, again, an easier route to the finals. However, when Dakota ran through Talia Santos, stopping her with strikes in the second round, something the likes of Liz Carmouche, Joanne Wood, and Valentina Shevchenko couldn’t manage, I realized she is a legitimate killer. You may ask yourself, how bad were the splinters I got when forcefully leaping upon the bandwagon? And will answer truthfully, just because I finally recognize she’s good don’t mean I like her.
I have liked Sumiko Inaba from her Bellator pre-and postlim days, which has been all of her days, save her last fight, the first time she made it to a main card booking. She’s got a solid mix of ground and pound TKOs, standing TKOs, and submission finishes. I am stoked she’s getting this opportunity. It’s not a shot, since Dakota isn’t putting her 2024 Tournament Championship on the line, but it’s a big step up and a marquee card placement for Sumiko. Hooray for the lady I like!
Dakota is 8 years younger, four inches taller, with five more inches of reach. Sumiko might have the edge on the ground, but I think she’s going to get efficiently and violently pulped on her way in. Ditcheva by TKO, and I’m going to be a little sad afterwards. And I bet I’ll wail in consternation when Dakota faces my hopeful 2025 Flyweight Tournament winner, Liz Carmouche.
Featherweight - AJ McKee Jr vs Akhmed Magomedov
I could have sworn this fight listed at Lightweight when I first looked a week or two ago. Well, it doesn’t matter what my ruined brain imagined, the reality is AJ McKee is going back down to 145 lbs, something he hasn’t done since he lost to Patricio Pitbull in 2022. Speaking of that lackluster performance, it feels like AJ hasn’t been the same guy since that fight. He’s not pulling out as many cool submissions or the occasional sneaky knockout. Granted, part of that could be he’s simply fighting better opponents, and it’s usually harder to finish better fighters. Then there’s the fact that there’s now more tape on AJ for his opponents to watch, so he can be better gameplanned against. Please, AJ, return to your past and use your violent, gangly limbs to inflict damage on your foes! A beleaguered MMA fanbase is desperate for this.
A fun thing about Akhmed Magomedov is both of his Bellator appearances are also the same cards where Lorenz Larkin elbowed Mukhamed Berkhamov in the skull until candies fell out. Other than that, he submitted Nathan Kelly, who is pretty good, in PFL back in January. I don’t have strong memories of watching his fights, so I guess he didn’t pull off anything cool or noteworthy enough to sear into my deteriorating brain-scape.
Assuming that AJ’s cut goes well and that he isn’t in a fucked up mental space after losing to Paul Hughes, I’ll take him to win this fight, let’s say by submission.
Lightweight - Makkasharip Zaynukov vs Takeshi Izumi
Oh. Oh no. Now we have two guys who are mysteries to me. I’ve no memory of Makkasharip Zaynukov. Did I watch him fight at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants? Probably not. I probably skimmed through his prelim fight against Dedrek Sanders three hours after the event finished, not paying a ton of attention after seeing it ended by unanimous decision. He also apparently competed in a grappling contest at Karate Combat against Arman Tsarukyan in May that I’m absolutely sure I didn’t watch. I have no vibes with which to go off of for this man. He has as many injury/doctor stoppage wins as he does submissions.
Izumi is another person who I have not seen fight. He did beat Spike Carlyle in Rizin at the end of March, but I am too old and too tired all the time to stay up to watch Rizin any more. I’m sorry! The younger, more robust me would hate the person I’ve become, unable to devote untold hours to any and all MMA available, especially bleary-eyed, late night, take a nap at 9PM before the event starts so you can power through three different 45-minute intermissions JMMA.
The one thing Izumi has going for him in this fight is that he mostly loses to guys named Shunta Nomura, and that is not the name of Makkasharip Zaynukov. However, I have a strong feeling that Donn Davis has made a strategic move here, with the intended result of “Dagestan Man wins”. Truly Donn’s big giant business brain is unmatched in these endeavors.
Heavyweight - Corey Anderson vs Denis Goltsov
Why have the final three Bellator Light Heavyweight champions gone up to Heavyweight? None of them were particularly large 205ers, yet all have gone up to tangle with actual behemoths. It’s one of those “three times is not particularly noteworthy, but it is still weird” situations, especially all in a row. Someone, please, give me many nickels for spotting this bizarre trend. That’s how the meme works, right? You kids are alright.
I wonder if Corey Anderson gets dejected when he thinks about his Bellator run. He made it to the finals of the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2022, and was on his way to winning not only the tournament, but the world title against Vadim Nemkov. Then, with seven seconds left in the third round, an accidental clash of heads opened a cut that ended the fight. Since the technique was an illegal strike, the fight couldn’t be called a TKO, and since less than half the full amount of rounds had been completed, the fight couldn’t go to the judges scorecards. Thus, the fight was a No Contest, and in the rematch, Nemkov made enough adjustments to stifle Corey’s wrestling and win a decision. When Nemkov dropped the belt to move to Heavyweight, Corey, on a one-fight win streak, faced Karl Moore and won the vacant belt. Sure, he’s a champ, but I wonder if it’s a little disappointing he couldn’t win it against Nemkov. Now Corey has abandoned the title and the division entirely to head to Heavyweight as well.
Denis Goltsov’s PFL history has been a long and ponderous one. He started in 2019, punching and choking his way to the same-day two fight playoffs. He took a two round decision over Satoshi Ishii in the quarterfinals, then was knocked out with literally one second on the clock in the semi-finals by Ali Isaev. In 2021, Denis won both regular season fights by knockout, only to drop a decision in the playoffs to Ante Delija. The next year, Goltsov once again made the playoffs, but visa issues kept him from competing in the playoffs. In 2023, Goltsov tore through the regular season, notching both wins by KO in under a combined 150 seconds. Come the 2023 playoffs, Goltsov submitted his opponent in just over four minutes. Unfortunately, he got knocked out by Renan Ferreira in the second round of the tournament finals, failing to capture the championship for another year. Finally, in 2024, Denis put it all together, aided a little bit by guys like Ante Delija and Bruno Cappelozza withdrawing, but he still won the god damn tournament. Congratyr to the Russian Bogatyr.
Two guys who took long, arduous roads to get here. But where is “here”? This card is PFL’s non-North African debut, but you wouldn’t know that looking at the main card. Sure, the prelims are full of fighters from across the continent, but the main card is a grab bag of whoever was available. So here are Corey and Denis, two guys who were exceedingly available. Is this fight for anything? Does it represent potential, or some thrust of upward momentum? According to Donn Davis, he wants Anderson, a career 205-er making his heavyweight debut, to fight Johnny Eblen, at Middleweight, next year as part of the utterly moronic “Trump wants UFC at the White House for America’s 250th anniversary” idea, so PFL is trying to leech on to that wave. I repeat myself, but I am tired, all of the time.
Denis Goltsov is going to have too much power and strength for Corey. Goltsov wins by submission.
Prelim Card
Bantamweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Nkosi Ndebele vs Mahmoud Atef
No man, come on. I gave you more than rote recitation of records and stats this time. I gave you my thoughts. I gave you my fucking emotions. You can’t seriously be asking more of me. There’s no way you actually want me to cover the PFL Africa tournaments. I barely had anything to say about guys I’m pretty sure I’ve seen fight before, and you want me to expound upon people that nobody has ever seen?
Fine. Ndebele is on a one fight losing streak, so sure, put him in a tournament. He did go 2-1 against Jose “Shorty” Torres prior to that over the past few years.
Atef’s latest win came against a guy with three straight “Record Ineligible” flags on his Tapology page for suspect matchmaking.
Ndebele has wins over a man who made it to the UFC. He clears everyone in this tournament.
Heavyweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Maxwell Djantou Nana vs Mickael Groguhe
Dear lord. The regional heavyweight scene in places with a long MMA history like the USA, Brazil, and Russia is pretty dire. I can only imagine how shallow the talent pool is in Africa when the 195th best heavyweight on the continent meets the 174th best.
Djantou Nana has wins in both PFL and ONE, so he’s got a big leg up.
Groguhe has a win in PFL Europe from last year, but it was against a 5-7 guy and Mickael is the only person to not finish that guy. Nana takes this.
Bantamweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Shannon von Tonder vs Boule Godogo
Von Tonder has beat a lot of terrible guys, Godogo has beat only a few terrible guys, and he hasn’t fought since 2022. The long layoff is going to be a factor, von Tonder wins.
Heavyweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Jashell Ticha Awa vs Justin Clarke
I’m torn when it comes to Ticha Awa. He’s got a loss in Slap Fighting last year, so I despise that. Yet he has a win by leg kicks, so he’s my new hope for the Heavyweight division. Damn these multitudes I contain!
Half of Clarke’s two wins have come against a Lamentable Dustman named Willem Smith.
Let’s go Jashell, do more low kick based devastation!
Bantamweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Asiashu Tshitamba vs Karim Henniene
Tshatiamba has a win by ninja choke, while Henniene’s only won by decision in his pro career. You already know where my loyalties lie.
Heavyweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Abdoullah Kane vs Joffie Holton
Kane has mauled all three of his opponents inside of ten minutes. Are they any good? Probably not, but we’re on the prelims of an international PFL card, we ain’t looking for good, we’re looking for entertainment.
Holton has a win over Jan Lysak, the preeminent European Heavyweight jobber. That fight is listed as a 49-second round one retirement due to an elbow. Did Jan’s elbow explode? That’s a doctor’s stoppage. Did he get hit with an elbow and decide to stop fighting? That’s a TKO. Get it together, Tapology.
I’m taking Kane because I don’t want to encourage people to pump up their record by beating up on Jan “The Monster” Lysak who is a sad, sad man who needs to stop fighting.
Bantamweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Simbarashe Hokonya vs Frans Mlambo
Hokonya has mostly won by decision against guys who ain’t good, ain’t any good at all.
Mlambo went 5-2 combined in Bellator and PFL, plus 3-0 in Combate. He’s either the most washed man in existence, or he’s the most obvious ringer in existence.
*Tips fedora at Italian sports car* M’lambo to advance.
Heavyweight Tournament Quarter-Finals - Abraham Bably vs Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze
Bably is on a two fight losing streak, but those were against PFL’s regular Heavyweights. Plus, both were split decision losses, so he nearly didn’t lose. He also has a win over sad Jan Lysak. Guys, seriously, stop beating up Jan, he needs to learn that acting out by falling over 30 seconds into a MMA fight isn’t the right way to get attention.
Gnaze is a classic all or nothing fighter. He’s 8-5 with 5 wins and 4 losses by KO. Swang and bang, big fella!
Bably wins by being mostly a legit fighter. Gnaze gonna get booped.
Strawweight - Juliet Ukah vs Ceileigh Niedermayr
Ukah is 6-0, but none of her opponents had records above .500 when they fought, and none of them currently have a winning record.
Niedermayr is 3-2 and her wins have also come against less than stellar opponents.
I’ll take Ukah to keep rolling, which will unfortunately put Niedermayr to 3-3 and thus, further weaken Juliet’s strength of schedule. Darn.