After the Team Renegade base in Birmingham, England burned down, Fabian Edwards was forced to find a new facility in preparation for his rematch with PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis, a fight that headlined Friday’s PFL Madrid event.
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Visa issues almost cost the British boxer the chance to compete in last year’s PFL Championship. However, after being given the green light to enter the United States at the last minute, he reminded the world of the devastating impact of his three-fight win streak that earned him $500,000 and a chance to compete for the title.
Now, despite meeting for the second time in Van Steenis’ hometown, Edwards seems completely at ease with the task at hand and the challenges posed by his gym being engulfed in flames.
“There was a fire in the back of the gym, and then the Renegade was next to a tire shop,” Edwards told The Untitled before Friday’s fight. “As soon as the tire shop was built, it spread to gyms, and obviously it’s hard to stop a fire when there’s a bunch of burning tires. That’s the end of it.”
The 32-year-old Birmingham man, the younger of the famous Edwards brothers, hopes his good form will be equally hard to knock off. Edwards maintained his momentum for a stellar 2025 season after moving to a local gym and spending “eight months” in training camp throughout the PFL Championship season.
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Previous champions of the tournament, such as fellow Briton Brendan Loughnane, have highlighted how hard the format takes on the body. Likewise, recent losses to former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and middleweight contender Reynier de Ridder have been blamed on overbearing schedules. While preparing for younger brother Leon Edwards’ UFC fight with Carlos Prates, Edwards admits he’s not completely over the injury bug yet, but he’s still preparing for the start of van Steenis’ training camp.
Edwards has also gained a new lease of life over the past 12 months. Compared to his younger self, he looked composed during boxing week. He has been studying the mentality of elite athletes, becoming more confident in his work and accepting what can happen in one of the most brutal sports. He also changed his internal dialogue, which he believes helped him zero in on the challenges ahead of him.
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“Like I’ve said all week, I just feel like I’m here to collect what I’ve worked for. I’ve put in all the time, I’ve done everything I can to make sure I get my hand raised on Friday,” he said.
Edwards has also noticed a change in the championship since arriving in the Spanish capital. His interactions with Van Steenis had been respectful before game week, but became more heated as their meeting drew closer. The PFL’s middleweight king has been drafted as a hometown hero for the promotion’s maiden voyage to Spain, but Edwards isn’t sure Van Steenis will resonate with the locals as much as he hopes.
“First of all, the Spanish fans couldn’t fight for him. It was just me and him there,” Edwards said. “But even just walking around, in the gym I’ve been working at, a lot of people have told me they support me – Spanish people, you know? God knows, maybe they’re lying to me, but I certainly don’t feel like I’m behind enemy lines or anything like that. The people have been great.”
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Edwards’ prediction for 2026 reads like a revenge thriller.
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If all goes according to plan on Friday, he will leave Madrid as champion and keep an eye on PFL Pittsburgh – where his old rival and former Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen will try to regain winning momentum against promotion prospect Bryan Battle.
“Don’t get me wrong, business always comes first, but revenge is sweet,” Edwards said. “How great would it be this year if we had Costello and Johnny back? It’s been a great year for me and I feel like that’s how the stars aligned.”
