Ahead of his retirement earlier this year, Bellator middleweight contender and former title challenger John Salter told Cageside Press there was one fighter he wanted to see face champ Johnny Eblen for gold.
Not himself, but rather a former foe of his, Costello van Steenis. Styles make fights, and Salter was interested in how that stylistic match-up plays out.
Dutch striker van Steenis (14-2) returns to action this Saturday against another (former) champ in Douglas Lima, and spoke to Cageside Press about Salter’s comments.
“John Salter is a great guy. It’s a shame he retired — with all due respect, I hope everything goes well with him and his loved ones, but it’s a shame he retired,” van Steenis told us. “It’s something that really stings for me, he took my first and only loss in the Bellator cage by points. I think I was one of the first guys to take him to decision and lose it.”
When it comes to the desire to see “The Spaniard” fight for gold, “only the real ones know, you know? The real ones know I should be fighting for the belt really soon.”
It’s with that in mind that Costello van Steenis is fighting Douglas Lima this Friday at Bellator 296, rather than a ranked middleweight. Flat-out, the former welterweight champion carries the biggest name value.
“Yes definitely, this means a lot more for me. Lima is definitely a bigger name than anyone in the top 10 of the middleweight division,” van Steenis stated. “He’s won the welterweight tournament, been a welterweight champion for a couple of fights. This guy is, he’s a legend. And to become a legend you need to destroy a legend.”
“I don’t care about the rankings of the Bellator middleweight division. They put me at #10. People were saying congratulations, I’m like ‘what’s there to congratulate about? I’m #10.’ It’s not something to be happy about. I’ll be happy when I’m top 3, where I used to be. But we’ll get there, no problem.”
Watch the full Bellator 296 media day appearance by Costello van Steenis above.
