Babene vs Steenis

Who won Babene vs Steenis?

Costello van Steenis beat Gregory Babene by submission in the 2nd round during the main card of Bellator Champions Series, on Friday 17th May 2024 at Accor Arena in Paris.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

Babene vs Steenis stats

Gregory Babene stepped into the octagon with a record of 23 wins, 11 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 13 by submission.

Costello van Steenis made his way to the cage with a record of 14 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 6 by submission.

This was Gregory Babene's 6th fight in Bellator, having made his debut for the promotion in 2016. Costello van Steenis marked his 9th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2017.

Gregory Babene's Bellator record stood at 5-1-0, while Costello van Steenis' came in at 7-2-0.

The stats suggested Babene had a slight advantage in power over Steenis, with a 30% knock out percentage over Steenis' 29%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Babene had an advantage over Steenis, with a 57% submission rate over Steenis' 43%.

Gregory Babene was the older man by 9 years, at 40 years old.

Steenis had a height advantage of 1 inch over Babene.

Babene was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 17 more fights, and made his debut in , 10 years and 3 months earlier than Steenis, whose first professional fight was in 2014. He had fought 17 more professional rounds, 51 to Steenis' 34.

Babene vs Steenis form

Steenis had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Douglas Lima at Bellator MMA Paris on 12th May 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

Previous to that, he had won against Kamil Oniszczuk at Bellator Milan on 29th October 2022 by submission in the 2nd round at Allianz Cloud Arena, Milan, Italy.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Fabian Edwards at Bellator Euro Series 8 on 26th September 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Allianz Cloud, Milan.

Before that, he had been beaten by John Salter at Bellator 233 on 8th November 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at WinStar World Casino, Thackerville, United States.

He had defeated Mike Shipman at Bellator 223 on 22nd June 2019 by knockout in the 2nd round at SSE Arena, London, England.

Activity check

Babene's last 2 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 2 months and 19 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 2 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1 rounds on average.

Steenis' last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 1 month and 3 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Babene vs Steenis?

Gregory Babene was a 49/20 (+250) underdog going into the contest, while Costello van Steenis made his way into the ring at 27/100 (-380) with oddsmakers.