PFL Champions Series 2
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PFL Champions Series Cape Town: Eblen vs. van Steenis and PFL Africa 1: 2025 First Round was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Professional Fighters League that took place on July 19, 2025, at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa.
Background
The event marked the promotion's debut in South Africa, which became the 14th country to held a PFL and WSOF event. This also the first event to held in Africa region. On May 20, the promotion announced that they've changed the date for their from July 26 to July 19 instead.
A PFL Middleweight World Championship bout between current champion Johnny Eblen and Costello van Steenis headlined the event.
The event also featured the quarterfinals of 2025 PFL Africa Tournament in a heavyweight and bantamweight divisions.
At the weigh-ins, Shannon van Tonder weighed in at 136.2 pounds, 0.2 pounds over the bantamweight limit and he was fined a percentage of his purse, which went to Boule Godogo.
Results
| PFL Champions Series 2 (DAZN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Costello van Steenis | def. | Johnny Eblen | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 5 | 4:51 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Dakota Ditcheva | def. | Sumiko Inaba | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | A. J. McKee | def. | Akhmed Magomedov | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Makkasharip Zaynukov | def. | Takeshi Izumi | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Corey Anderson | def. | Denis Goltsov | TKO (elbows) | 2 | 3:28 | |
| 2025 PFL Africa 1 (DAZN / PFL App) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Nkosi Ndebele | def. | Mahmoud Atef | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:50 | |
| Heavyweight | Maxwell Djantou Nana | def. | Mickaël Groguhe | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Boule Godogo | def. | Shannon van Tonder | Decision (split) (30–26, 28–29, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Justin Clarke | def. | Jashell Ticha Awa | TKO (retirement) | 1 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Karim Henniene | def. | Asiashu Tshitamba | Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Joffie Houlton | def. | Abdoullah Kane | DQ (illegal knee) | 1 | 0:40 | |
| Bantamweight | Simbarashe Hokonya | def. | Frans Mlambo | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–25) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Abraham Bably | def. | Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze | KO (punch) | 1 | 4:59 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Juliet Ukah | def. | Ceileigh Niedermayr | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 |
Tournament brackets
2025 PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Ivory Coast Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze | 1 | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast Abraham Bably | KO | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast Abraham Bably | ||||||||||
| Nigeria Joffie Houlton | ||||||||||
| Nigeria Joffie Houlton | DQ | |||||||||
| Senegal Abdoullah Kane | 1 | |||||||||
| South Africa Justin Clarke | TKO | |||||||||
| Cameroon Jashell Ticha Awa | 1 | |||||||||
| South Africa Justin Clarke | ||||||||||
| Cameroon Maxwell Djantou Nana | ||||||||||
| Cameroon Maxwell Djantou Nana | UD | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast Mickaël Groguhe | 3 | |||||||||
2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| South Africa Nkosi Ndebele | TKO | |||||||||
| Egypt Mahmoud Atef | 1 | |||||||||
| South Africa Nkosi Ndebele | ||||||||||
| Zimbabwe Simbarashe Hokonya | ||||||||||
| South Africa Frans Mlambo | 3 | |||||||||
| Zimbabwe Simbarashe Hokonya | UD | |||||||||
| South Africa Shannon van Tonder | 3 | |||||||||
| Democratic Republic of the Congo Boule Godogo | SD | |||||||||
| Democratic Republic of the Congo Boule Godogo | ||||||||||
| Algeria Karim Henniene | ||||||||||
| South Africa Asiashu Tshitamba | 3 | |||||||||
| Algeria Karim Henniene | SD | |||||||||