The Bellator doubleheader in Honolulu wraps up on Saturday, April 23, from the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena with Bellator 279. The main event features Cris “Cyborg” Justino defending her Bellator Women’s Featherweight belt against Arlene Blencowe in a rematch. Juan Archuleta and Raufeon Stots meet for the Interim Bellator Bantamweight World Championship as well as in a quarterfinal of the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament. Kyoji Horiguchi and Patchy Mix meet in another quarterfinal of that tournament to round out the main events. Read on for the full fight card and our Bellator betting predictions for the night.
Bellator 279: Cyborg vs Blencowe 2 Preview
Main Card (Showtime)
- Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs Arlene Blencowe (Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship)
- Juan Archuleta vs Raufeon Stots (Interim Bellator Bantamweight Championship)
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs Patchy Mix (Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal)
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs Justine Kish (Women’s Flyweight)
Preliminary Card (YouTube / Pluto TV)
- Janay Harding vs Dayana Silva (Women’s Featherweight)
- Lance Gibson Jr vs Nainoa Dung (Lightweight)
- Kai Kamaka III vs Justin Gonzales (Featherweight)
- Sumiko Inaba vs Whittany Pyles (Women’s Flyweight)
- Goiti Yamauchi vs Levan Chokheli (Welterweight)
- Yancy Medeiros vs Emmanuel Sanchez (Lightweight)
- Keoni Diggs vs Bobby King (Lightweight)
- Randi Field vs Maraya Miller (Catchweight – 120 lbs)
- Ryan Dela Cruz vs Jordan Winski (Bantamweight)
Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs Arlene Blencowe is a rematch of their fight at Bellator 249, where Cyborg delivered a rear-naked choke submission at 2:36 of the second round to win the featherweight title. Blencowe tried to withstand the storm of Cyborg’s striking game and deliver her own punishment, but it did not take long for Cyborg to drop Blencowe and deliver the submission, showing that she was far and away the best fighter in the division.
In Bellator, the women’s featherweight division does not have a lot of talent, with UFC veteran Cat Zingano the only other real contender. Blencowe is more of a brawler who likes to use kickboxing and striking, which means she will want to beat Cyborg at her own game, even though that did not work out well for her last time. Zingano might actually be a harder matchup for Cyborg because she would try to take things to the mat, but that won’t be the case in this title fight.
Blencowe does have something that Zingano does not, and that is stopping power, something rare in this division. Among Bellator featherweights and UFC flyweights, only five women, other than Cyborg, have delivered at least eight knockouts. Taila Santos and Lauren Murphy benefited from softer competition; Jessica Andrade has picked up nine knockouts, while Valentina Shevchenko has eight. Blencowe brings striking power that is comparable to theirs; while Cyborg can bring more volume, Blencowe can bring more damage per punch.
This means that Blencowe has a puncher’s chance of stopping Cyborg. Rather than try to join the fray again, though, she should maintain distance while closing in to deliver a big bomb or two before backing up again. This could give her the chance to hurt Cyborg enough to let Blencowe take over, or just drop her right there. After all, Cyborg has lost two fights in her career. However, this is an extremely long shot.
Final Prediction: Cyborg wins via knockout
