PFL CEO John Martin took to social media this morning to announce the promotion’s first US event for 2026. The promotion will have it’s first event in Pittsburgh on March 28th and in the main event, former middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (16-1) will be taking on former Ultimate Fighter winner, Bryan Battle (12-2, 1 NC).
A week before this event, the middleweight title is on the line between Costello Van Steenis and Fabian Edwards. With that, you can imagine that the winner of the PFL Pittsburgh main event will likely be getting a middleweight title shot.
Starting with Eblen, the last time we saw him was when he lost his title to Van Steenis last year. Eblen went into the fifth round just needing to survive to win a decision. However, he was gassed and he ultimately was choked out in the final seconds of the fight suffering his first career loss.
Now, he’ll look to bounce back against Bryan Battle. Battle was released by the UFC after he missed weight for his fight against Nursulton Ruziboev back in August. After being released, Battle fought twice in Dirty Boxing winning both fights by first round knockout and he signed a deal with the PFL. Battle is 11-1, 1 NC in his last 13 fights.
PFL Pittsburgh
In addition to announcing the main event, the co-main event was also announced by John Martin. Former PFL season champion Impa Kasanganay (19-6) will be taking on Dalton Rosta (11-2).
Given the title fight the week before and these two matchups, it’s clear that the promotion is making a concentrated effort on defining the top of their middleweight division. This is a positive sign as the promotion looks to clear things up here in 2026.
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