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When is Bellator 259: Cyborg vs Smith 2? Full Fight Card, Revealed

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Tonight, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut, current Bellator Women’s Featherweight Champion (and former UFC champ) Cris Cyborg is defending her title against UFC alum Lesli Smith in a highly anticipated rematch. The entire Bellator 259 fight card is bringing 13 matchups in total to the cage, and if you’re planning to watch Cyborg vs. Smith live, here’s when you’ll need to tune in.

For Bellator 259, MMA fans will get treated to 26 fighters doing their ring-walks this evening. The preliminary card features a whopping nine bouts to kick off the event starting at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. The main event, headlined by a Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship matchup between defending titleholder Cris Cyborg and challenger Leslie Smith in their second meeting, has five fights and begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. You can check out the entire lineup (as it stands now) below.\

Discover Bellator 259

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Cris Cyborg (23-2, 18 KOs) is a legend in the world of women’s MMA and a fighter who ranks alongside other greats like Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. The Brazilian-American martial artist was the UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion from July 2017 to December 2018 (when she lost the title to Nunes) prior to leaving the promotion and signing on with Bellator in late 2019. Cyborg instantly made her mark with the new league when she claimed the Bellator featherweight belt in her debut at Bellator 238 in January 2020, going on to successfully defend it later in October at Bellator 249.

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Challenging for the title is Leslie Smith (12-8, 5 KOs), another UFC veteran who signed on with Bellator in 2019. Smith and Cyborg met once before at UFC 198 in May 2016 — Cyborg’s debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championship — where Smith was stopped in the first round via TKO. With the reigning champ as the clear favorite to win here, Smith will have an uphill battle ahead of her if she wants to unseat Cyborg to claim the title.

The action begins with the prelims at 5:30 PM ET on this evening followed by the main event at 9 p.m., and you can watch the Bellator 259 live stream online when you sign up for a free month of Showtime.

Bellator 259 Fight Card

Prelims

  • Saad Awad vs. Nate Andrews
  • Grant Neal vs. Tyree Fortune
  • Sumiko Inaba vs. Kristina Katsikis
  • Aviv Gozali vs. Sean Felton
  • Davion Franklin vs. Tyler King
  • Leah McCourt vs. Janay Harding
  • Brett Johns vs. Danny Sabatello
  • Alfie Davis vs. Alexander Shabliy

Main Card

  • Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith
  • Darrion Caldwell vs. Leandro Higo
  • Austin Vanderford vs. Fabian Edwards
  • Jaleel Willis vs. Maycon Mendonca
  • Valerie Loureda vs. Hannah Guy
Lucas Coll
Lucas Coll
Former Deals and News Writer
Lucas Coll has been a freelance writer for almost a decade and has penned articles on tech, video games, travel, cars, and… Read Full Bio
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