Ahead of his first PFL title defense, Johnny Eblen is already thinking about what the future might hold.
Eblen (16-0) is scheduled to face Costello van Steenis (16-3) at the inaugural PFL Africa event in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 26.
“Pressure” remains one of the few high-profile fighters still with the promotion following its acquisition of Bellator in 2023, as several former Bellator stars—including Patricio Freire, Aaron Pico, and Patchy Mix—have recently made the jump to the UFC.
In an interview with MMA Junkie Radio this week, Eblen shared an update on his current contract situation with the PFL.
"I have three fights left on the contract, this is one of three, the one I'm fighting at in South Africa," Eblen explained. "That's kind of where I'm at. It's my Bellator contract. It's not a PFL contract. I think they have matching rights for a year after. That's pretty much all I know about the contract they acquired. That's it. Either I fight it out, which I really doubt I'm going to get three fights by March 2026, or it expires, and technically I'd be able to see what's out there."
Eblen fought ten times under the Bellator banner after signing with the promotion in 2019. He captured the Bellator middleweight title by defeating Gegard Mousasi and remained at the top of the division until the organization was acquired by the PFL.
Although he’s only competed twice since the PFL absorbed Bellator, Eblen says he doesn’t see himself taking to social media to air grievances the way Aaron Pico, Patchy Mix, and others have done in recent months.
"I think it's better to have those conversations in private and see where that gets you before taking it to Twitter or X or Instagram," Eblen said. "But they've been feeding me well. I've been happy there. I'm not upset. The only thing that kind of frustrates me is that I'm only able to fight certain people, and I can't really extend outside of it and the odds of them bringing in people that make sense for me to fight to really raise the status of my stock, it doesn't look super probable. So, you know, that's kind of where I'm at with my relationship with PFL.
"I really hope they do well because I think it's important for promotions outside the UFC to give opportunities to fighters. They're a great company, they've treated me well, they treat a lot of people well. A lot of people making a lot of money through PFL, they're great. But there comes a point in time, money can only do so much. I want to find out. I want to fight the DDPs and the Khamzat Chimaevs, and they're not in PFL."
