Bellator 259 Preview
Bellator 259 takes place tonight from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, live on Showtime!
The main event will see the return of the legendary Cris Cyborg, who will be defending her featherweight championship against Leslie Smith. The closing odds have Smith listed as a +850 underdog, with Cyborg a monstrous -1450 favorite. A victory for Smith would no doubt go down as one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. For the co-main event, Darrion Caldwell is listed as a -310 favorite over Leandro Higo (+250).
The Bellator 259 kicks off live on the Showtime network at 9PM ET, with the prelims streaming live on YouTube right here.
At the conclusion of tonight’s Bellator 259 card, you can visit this page for all the results, sights, and sounds!
Bellator 259 Highlights
The main card kicked off with the highly touted Valerie Loureda taking on Hannah Guy. Here is a glimpse at Loureda’s entrance.
Loureda had some early success, dropping Guy with a big left one minute into the first round:
The tide would soon shift, and Hannah Guy would take the fight over henceforth. Here’s a look at some of the action:
And Guy was sure to punctuate her win with a victory dance:
Also on the main card, Austin Vanderford picked up the unanimous-decision win over Fabian Edward. Here’s a glimpse at some of the action from that bout:
And as you can see, this is one win that was hard earned:
The co-main event was a hotly contested bantamweight bout between Darrion Caldwell and Leandro Higo. Higo was able to earn the split-decision victory, and here are some of the highlights from the bout:
On paper, who would you have given this fight to?
In the main event, Leslie Smith had a chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history in her second crack at Cris Cyborg! So how did she do?
As the oddsmakers predicted, not very well…
Cyborg would get the finish late in the 5th round after another dominant performance. You can check out the fast results from the full Bellator 259 card below!
Bellator 259 Fast Results
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 PM ET)
Women’s Featherweight Championship Bout: Cris Cyborg (c) def. Leslie Smith via TKO (punches), R5, 4:51
Leandro Higo def. Darrion Caldwell via split decision (28-29, 29-28×2)
Hannah Guy def. Valerie Loureda via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
Jaleel Willis def. Maycon Mendonca via unanimous decision (29-28×2, 30-27)
Austin Vanderford def. Fabian Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
PRELIMINARY CARD (YouTube, 5:30 p.m. ET)
Saad Awad def. Nate Andrews via knockout (punch) – R1, 3:16
Grant Neal def. Tyree Fortune via submission (rear-naked choke) – R1, 4:20
Sumiko Inaba def. Kristina Katsikis via TKO (strikes) – R3, 3:35
Aviv Gozali def. Sean Felton via submission (heel hook) – R1, 1:17
Davion Franklin def. Tyler King via knockout (punches) – R1, 2:02
Leah McCourt def. Janay Harding via submission (triangle choke) – R2, 2:42
Danny Sabatello def. Brett Johns via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
Alexander Shabliy def. Alfie Davis via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
