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| (Image Source: MMA Mania/BELLATOR MMA) |
BELLATOR MMA has announced additional information on its return to the Hawaiian island of Oahu where Honolulu’s Neal S. Blaisdell Arena will play home to a pair of events on back-to-back nights. BELLATOR 278 is headlined by a Women’s Flyweight World Championship main event pitting undefeated Juliana Velasquez (12-0) against former U.S. Marine and No. 2-ranked flyweight Liz Carmouche (16-7). BELLATOR 278, set for April 23rd (Philippine/Singapore standard time), is being held in honor of America’s Military, Veterans, First-Responders, and Medical Personnel -- all of whom are eligible to attend the event with a guest for free entry the day of with valid proof of ID. Free admission is based on a limited capacity and available on first come-first serve basis.
In addition, a pair of “Wild Card” matchups will be held, with the winner of each 135-pound contest officially punching their ticket into the one-million-dollar BELLATOR Bantamweight World Grand Prix. The first “Wild Card” fight features No. 8-ranked Josh Hill (21-4) facing Enrique Barzola (17-5-2) with the winner moving on to meet Magomed Magomedov in the quarterfinals. The second “Wild Card” contest will see No. 9-ranked Jornel Lugo (8-0) take on Danny Sabatello (11-1) with the victor going on to face Leandro Higo. Dates for both pending quarterfinal matchups will be announced shortly. The BELLATOR 278 main card also features two additional marquee main card bouts including a light heavyweight pairing pitting Christian Edwards (5-1) versus Grant Neal (6-1) as well as a 160-pound contract weight scrap between Manny Muro (12-7) and Nate Andrews (16-4). BELLATOR 278's preliminary and main card fights will be streamed live starting at 8:00 am (Philippine/Singapore standard time) and eventually on-demand on BELLATOR MMA's official YouTube channel.
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| (Image Source: BELLATOR MMA) |
BELLATOR 279, on the other hand, will feature a women’s featherweight world championship rematch pitting Cris Cyborg (25-2, 1 NC) against Australia’s No. 1-ranked Arlene Blencowe (15-8), who will look to claim gold in her third attempt at a world title and the launch of the highly anticipated one-million-dollar BELLATOR Bantamweight World Grand Prix. Former champion, No. 1-ranked Juan Archuleta (25-3) will challenge No. 3-ranked Raufeon Stots (17-1) for the interim bantamweight title, following the news that incumbent champion Sergio Pettis is on the shelf with an injury. Also, at BELLATOR 279 on April 24 (Philippine/Singapore standard time), No. 2-ranked Patchy Mix (15-1) takes on No. 5-ranked Kyoji Horiguchi (29-4) in a five-round BELLATOR World Grand Prix contest and Oahu’s own No. 1-ranked Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-1) returns home to fight Justine Kish (7-5) at flyweight. BELLATOR 279's preliminary and main card fights will be streamed live starting at 8:00 am (Philippine/Singapore standard time) and eventually on-demand on BELLATOR MMA's official YouTube channel.
