Bellator MMA is in Honolulu, Hawaii for a pair of shows over Friday and Saturday, with both events headlined by women’s title fights.
We had Liz Carmouche win the women’s flyweight title over Juliana Velasquez on Friday night, now we have the great Cris Cyborg in the main event of Bellator 279 on Saturday. She will be rematching Arlene Blencowe, who was submitted by Cyborg back in 2020 and is once again a massive underdog in her second meeting with the feared Brazilian striker.
This card also represents the beginning of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix, with former champ Juan Archuleta taking on Raufeon Stots in what doubles as a quarterfinal and the interim title due to Sergio Pettis’ injury. Kyoji Horiguchi opens the main card against Patchy Mix in the other quarterfinal of the evening. All grand prix bouts are five rounds.
No doubt the Hawaiian fans will be thrilled to see the return of Ilima-Lei Macfarlane against UFC veteran Justine Kish. The former Bellator women’s flyweight champion hasn’t compted since losing her title to Juliana Velasquez in December 2020.
Bellator 279 kicks off with a free live stream of the prelims, which can be watched at the top of the page starting at 8:30PM ET/5:30 PM PT. Showtime has the main card at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT. You can watch the main card on Bellator’s YouTube channel if you live in other select international jurisdictions. BBC iPlayer has this card for the United Kingdom viewers.
Main Card (Showtime, 10:30 p.m. ET)
Cris Cyborg def. Arlene Blencowe by unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45) to remain Bellator women’s featherweight champion
Raufeon Stots def. Juan Archuleta by TKO (head kick and punches) at :16 of Round 3, wins Bellator interim bantamweight title and advances to grand prix semifinals
Justine Kish def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Patchy Mix def. Kyoji Horiguchi by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47), advances to Bellator bantamweight grand prix semifinals
Yancy Medeiros def. Emmanuel Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card (Online, 8 p.m. ET)
Goiti Yamauchi def. Levan Chokheli by submission (armbar) at 3:49 of R1.
Bobby King def. Keoni Diggs by split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
Dayana Silva def. Janay Harding by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lance Gibson Jr. def. Nainoa Dung by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
Justin Gonzales def. Kai Kamaka III by split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
Randi Field vs. Maraya Miller – Postlim
Ryan Dela Cruz vs. Jordan Winski – Postlim
Sumiko Inaba vs. Whittany Pyles – Postlim