It took less than a minute for Spaniard Costelo Van Steenes to win his fight against Brazilian Joao Dantas in the Professional Fighters League championship in the middleweight category in mixed martial arts, which is taking place for the first time in Saudi Arabia.
Van Stenis (32) delivered a stunning finishing blow to his competitor Dantas (28), who fell to the ground before the referee announced the Spaniard’s victory.
Van Stenis started the fight slowly and directed several low blows at his opponent, then surprised him with an overhead kick to the head 48 seconds into the fight, as a result of which Dantas fell unconscious.
WALK HEADKICK KO! 😳
Costello Van Steenis stops Joao Dantas in the first round after a vicious headbutt!#PFLWorldChampionship | LIVE NOW ON ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/EpAIceJOwh
– Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 29, 2024
It should be noted that this event is organized by the Saudi Mixed Martial Arts Federation in cooperation with the International Professional Fighters League (PFL) under the supervision of the Saudi Ministry of Sports.
Van Stenis had already won 6 times in the first 7 fights of his career and won the regional welterweight title in 2017. In the same year, he signed a contract with Bellator, a leading company in the world of mixed martial arts.
Van Stenis was born in 1992 to a Dutch father and a Filipino mother and lived in Spain for more than 20 years, according to Spanish newspaper “Marca”.
As for Dantas, he has been victorious in 7 of the 8 fights he has fought since entering the professional arena in 2015, all of his victories have come by knockout.
Source : Websites + social media sites