The compete lineup has been announced today for Bellator 259 taking place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT next Friday, May 21. In the main event live on Showtime Cris Cyborg makes the second defense of her featherweight title against Leslie Smith in the rematch.
The pair first met back in May 2016 inside the Octagon. The verdict heard former UFC featherweight champion Cyborg taking the win via first-round TKO with punches.
Riding the three-win streak, Cris Cyborg (23-2, 1 NC) last fought in October 2020 when she submitted Arlene Blencowe in the second round to retain her Bellator belt. Making her promotional debut in January the same year she dethroned former champion Julia Budd by TKO in Round 4, after earning a unanimous decision in her last UFC bout against Felicia Spencer in July 2019.
Leslie Smith (12-8-1) was last in action in September 2020, when she defeated Amanda Bell by unanimous decision. In November 2019 she dropped a UD against Blencowe, which snapped her three-win streak.
The Bellator 259 co-main event is set to see a bantamweight battle between Darrion Caldwell (15-4) and Leandro Higo (20-5). The full fight card can be found below. The event start time can be found here.
Bellator 259 fight card
Main Card (Showtime)
- Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith – Cyborg’s Bellator women’s featherweight title
- Darrion Caldwell vs. Leandro Higo
- Austin Vanderford vs. Fabian Edwards
- Jaleel Willis vs. Maycon Mendonca
- Christian Edwards vs. Ben Parrish
Preliminary Card (YouTube)
- Saad Awad vs. Nate Andrews
- Grant Neal vs. Tyree Fortune
- Sumiko Inaba vs. Kristina Katsikis
- Aviv Gozali vs. Sean Felton
- Valerie Loureda vs. Hannah Guy
- Davion Franklin vs. Tyler King
- Janay Harding vs. Leah McCourt
- Alfie Davis vs. Alexander Shabliy
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