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Sean Strickland gives "a lot of motivation" to reinspired Johnny Eblen before PFL Austin title bout

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Sean Strickland gives "a lot of motivation" to reinspired Johnny Eblen before PFL Austin title bout

Sean Strickland helms the UFC's middleweight division and steadily gets in work with someone vying for gold in another promotion this weekend. The combatant in question is Johnny Eblen, who runs it back with Impa Kasanganay for a rematch with the interim middleweight belt on the line at PFL Austin on July 18th. The winner will battle lineal PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis at a later juncture when the 185-pound titleholder gets off the shelf from his injury.

Speaking to the motivational component, getting to work with the UFC champion and potential future UFC Hall of Famer in Sean Strickland, who really touts Johnny Eblen's skills in quite a high regard, Eblen said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, absolutely. A lot of motivation. Especially when you lose to a guy that you know you can beat [Costello Van Steenis]. It definitely gave me motivation to stay with the PFL and right that wrong. Cuz around that time, I was kind of like running through everybody, beating everybody, and I wanted to find new competition outside of the PFL cuz I fought everybody in the PFL.â€

“But having that loss, and then having Bryan Battle come over, and now I get to run it back with Impa [Kasanganay]. Some people thought I might have lost that fight with Impa because it was a split decision and now I have a road back to redemption with Costello [Van Steenis]. It truly spiced up the division and it truly motivated me, I think.â€

Sean Strickland foresees a UFC title fight with Johnny Eblen someday

Sean Strickland and Johnny Eblen have often got in work inside the gym together, whether in Florida or Nevada, with the former envisioning a fight with the latter transpiring someday. Touching upon that during a recent training excursion taken at American Top Team, Strickland stated [via Bloody Elbow],

“First session done with Johnny [Eblen], this guy is a savage… This guy is going to win the [PFL] belt. Then he's going to come to the UFC, he's going to win a fight and then we're going to fight for the belt. And I don't know who's going to f***ing win but I know we're going to fight.â€

To that, Eblen responded,

“It's going to be fun.â€

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MMA

Ex-Amanda Nunes UFC title foe Irene Aldana no longer on roster

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6 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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Ex-Amanda Nunes UFC title foe Irene Aldana no longer on roster

A combatant who battled Amanda Nunes for UFC gold is no longer a UFC contracted athlete. As reported by MMA Fighting, Irene Aldana is the fighter in question who will not be continuing her journey with the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of this juncture.

The Mexican standout has not competed since a Fall 2024 setback to Norma Dumont, but Aldana still remained in the top ten rankings for contenders at 135 pounds before her departure from the promotion. The 38-year-old debuted in the UFC on the heels of notching multiple first-round finishes via strikes inside the Invicta FC cage.

Aldana began her UFC run in a bit of an inauspicious fashion with back-to-back losses to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Cerminara before then embarking on a three-fight winning streak. That stretch saw victories secured over Talita Bernardo, Lucie Pudilova, and Bethe Correia before Aldana lost a split decision to eventual UFC champion Raquel Pennington.

Irene Aldana's UFC run continued

Aldanda bounced back with wins over Vanessa Melo and Ketlen Vieria before taking a loss to former UFC bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm. The defeat saw Irene Aldana recalibrate and put together consecutive wins over Yana Santos as well as Macy Chiasson. This led to the aforementioned title shot, which saw Aldana fall short to women's MMA icon Amanda Nunes by way of a unanimous decision at UFC 289.

A win over Karol Rosa eventually gave way to the aforementioned Dumont defeat on the UFC's first-ever Noche event. Overall, Aldana had fourteen bouts in the promotion.

Of note, that June 2023 title defense still marks the last time that Amanda Nunes has stepped into the cage to compete. There were discussions around a superfight with Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison in January before the former two-time Olympic gold medalist had to pull out of the high-stakes bout with Nunes. The Brazilian legend is targeting a return, possibly for later this year, as Nunes aims to battle Harrison for the latter's UFC bantamweight belt.

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MMA

UFC Oklahoma City ‘Du Plessis vs. Usman’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

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6 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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UFC Oklahoma City ‘Du Plessis vs. Usman’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Oklahoma City coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET/2
p.m. PT. The event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 281.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

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MMA

PFL Austin ‘Eblen vs. Kasanganay 2’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

7 hours ago

on

July 17, 2026

By

PFL Austin ‘Eblen vs. Kasanganay 2’ play-by-play, results & round scoring
Sherdog’s live
PFL Austin coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

A middleweight
title fight headlines PFL Austin: Tune on Saturday, July 18 at 8
p.m. ET on ESPN.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

The Official Result

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Interim PFL Middleweight Title Fight:
Johnny
Eblen (184.2) vs. Impa
Kasanganay (183)

Round 1

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Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

The Official Result

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