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Cris Cyborg delivered a big reminder to the MMA word that she is one of the most dominant female fighters on the planet with a win over Leslie Smith in the main event of Bellator 259. Smith was game, holding out for almost all five rounds before Cyborg scored the TKO in the final 10 seconds of the fight.
With the victory, Cyborg remained firmly established as the No. 1 ranked fighter in both the women’s featherweight and pound-for-pound lists in the Bellator MMA Fighter Rankings. Smith remained at her No. 4 spot after giving a game challenge, faring much better than the first clash between the women in May 2016, where Smith was stopped in less than 90 seconds.
In the co-main event, Leandro Higo scored an upset decision victory over Darrion Caldwell. The fight was also a rematch of a fight with a quick result the first time around, with Caldwell winning the first fight in March 2018 by first round guillotine choke. Higo won the hard-fought rematch by split decision, moving up one spot in the bantamweight rankings to the No. 5 slot.
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Editor’s note: CBS Sports insider Brian Campbell is a member of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (May 25)
Men’s pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
|
1. Patricio Pitbull |
32-4 |
|
2. Vadim Nemkov |
12-2 |
|
3. Gegard Mousasi |
47-7-2 |
|
4. Ryan Bader |
27-6 |
|
5. Douglas Lima |
32-8 |
|
5. AJ McKee |
17-0 |
|
7. Sergio Pettis |
21-5 |
|
8. Juan Archuleta |
25-3 |
|
9. Corey Anderson |
15-5 |
|
10. Yaroslav Amasov |
25-0 |
Women’s pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
|
1. Cris Cyborg |
23-2 |
|
2. Juliana Velasquez |
11-0 |
|
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane |
11-1 |
|
4. Julia Budd |
15-3 |
|
5. Liz Carmouche |
15-7 |
|
6. Arlene Blencowe |
13-8 |
|
7. Denise Kielholtz |
6-2 |
|
8. Cat Zingano |
12-4 |
|
9. Kana Watanabe |
10-0-1 |
|
10. Leslie Smith |
12-8-1 |
Other notable results
- Women’s flyweight: Hannah Guy scored a big upset win over Valarie Loureda. With the win, Guy entered the rankings at No. 9 while Loureda remains at No. 8. Guy was able to control Loureda with a strong grappling game.
- Middleweight: Austin Vanderford moved up one spot to No. 2 with his win over Fabian Edwards. Edwards dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 with the loss. Vanderford is now a perfect 5-0 in Bellator and is positioned as a future title contender after yet another victory, though he did suffer two nasty cuts in the win.
- Light heavyweight: Grant Neal improved to 5-0 in Bellator with a win over Tyree Fortune on the prelims. Neal holds steady at No. 7 with the victory while Fortune dropped to No. 9 with his first loss inside the Bellator cage.
- Women’s featherweight: With Cris Cyborg in need of new challengers, Leah McCourt scored a big win on the prelims, beating Janay Harding via submission. McCourt is now the No. 5 ranked women’s featherweight in Bellator and has been perfect in the promotion, going 4-0 to date. Harding dropped from No. 6 to No. 7 in defeat.
- Heavyweight: Davion Franklin held steady at No. 9 after scoring a TKO win over Tyler King on the prelims.