Bellator 279 Results: Cris Cyborg retains title in five-round battle, Raufeon Stots claims interim bantamweight title

Cris Cyborg remains untouchable inside the Bellator cage, but she had to work for it this time.

On Saturday night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Cyborg retained her featherweight title with a unanimous decision win over Arlene Blencowe in the main event of Bellator 279. Like in their first encounter at Bellator 249, Cyborg battered Blencowe all over the cage, but the featherweight champion was unable to secure a finish this time around, being stymied by the sheer determination and toughness of Blencowe.

It looked as though this fight would repeat the previous fight between Cyborg and Blencowe. However, the action was halted by Blencowe dropping Cyborg in round one. That brief respite allowed Blencowe to recover enough to make it out of the round.

Blencowe’s performance improved from that point on. In the second and third rounds Cyborg seemed content to have almost only a kickboxing match. While Cyborg landed more shots and had the larger strikes, Blencowe was able to use her right hand and even caught the champion off balance a few times.

In the championship rounds, Blencowe, her face a bloody mask at that point, continued to press the issue with Cyborg, creating exchanges and never backing down. Blencowe, who was clearly overmatched against Cyborg, gave an impressive account and survived five rounds in the Bellator cage. Cyborg prevailed in the final round and won an unanimous decision. This was her fourth defence of her featherweight title.

After the bout, Cyborg gave Blencowe credit for her toughness and then said she wants to pursue the biggest fights possible, whether that be Cat Zingano, Amanda Nunes, or Kayla Harrison.

Stots stuns Archuleta to claim interim bantamweight title

In the co-main event of the evening, Raufeon Stots scored the biggest win of his career, finishing former champion Juan Archuleta to claim the interim bantamweight title. Archuleta had a tough first round, with Archuleta looking to defeat the D-II National Champion. But Archuleta fell into Stots’ head kick just seconds into his third round. This sent Archuleta to the ground where Stots swiftly finished the job. It was the first stoppage loss of Archuleta’s career an the first knockout of Stots’ Bellator career.

The fight also happened in the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix second quarterfinals. Stots was therefore guaranteed a spot in the semifinals where he will be facing the winner of Leandro higo vs. Danny Sabatello.

Kish upsets Macfarlane

In what may have been the most surprising fight of the evening, Justin Kish upset Ilima Lei Macfarlane before her hometown crowd. It was a fairly tepid performance from both women as they only landed a combined 63 strikes between the two of them, but Kish simply did a little bit more than Macfarlane, scoring multiple takedowns and controlling the position for much of the fight. In the end, Kish won a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28. The loss is Macfarlane’s second in a row, while Kish moves to 1-1 inside the Bellator cage.

Mix out-grapples Horiguchi

In the first bout of the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix, Patchy Mix kicked things off with an upset, winning a clear unanimous decision over one-time champion Kyoji Horiguchi. Mix’s grappling abilities allowed him to dominate the fight for large parts of it. He repeatedly took the back and held onto it for several rounds. Mix was able make the fight competitive in some spots but could not escape Mix consistently. With the win, Mix punched his ticket to the semifinals of the Grand Prix where he will face the winner of Magomed Magomedov vs. Enrique Barzola.

Medeiros wins exciting scrap with Sanchez

Also on the main card, Yancy Medeiros made a successful Bellator debut, winning a tremendous scrap with Emmanuel Sanchez in the main card opener. For 15 minutes, Medeiros and Sanchez went toe-to-toe with Medeiros’ jab being the big difference maker in the fight. He won the unanimous victory and sent the Hawaiian crowd wild.

Full Bellator 279 Results

Cris Cyborg def. Arlene Blencowe by unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45)

Raufeon Stots def. Juan Archuleta by TKO (knee and punches) at 0:16 of R3.

Justine Kish def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Patchy Mix def. Kyoji Horiguchi via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

Yancy Medeiros def. Emmanuel Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Goiti Yamauchi def. Levan Chokheli by submission (armbar) at 3:49 of R1.

Bobby King def. Keoni Diggs by split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)

Dayana Silva def. Janay Harding by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Lance Gibson Jr. def. Nainoa Dung by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)

Justin Gonzales def. Kai Kamaka III by split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)