Bellator 259: ‘Cyborg vs. Smith 2’ Results and Highlights

By Chris Taylor - May 21, 2021

Bellator 259 took place this evening at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, a thirteen-bout fight card headlined by Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith 2.

Cris Cyborg, Bellator 259

Cyborg (24-2 MMA) and Smith (12-9-1 MMA) had originally collided under the UFC banner in May of 2016, with the Brazilian emerging victorious by way of first round knockout.

Cris Cyborg had entered tonight’s Bellator 259 main event sporting a three-fight winning streak, her latest being a second round submission victory over Arlene Blencowe.

Meanwhile, Leslie Smith was coming off a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Bell in her most recent outing this past September.

While Smith definitely put forth a much better effort against Cyborg this evening, the outcome was ultimately the same as Justino walked away with a TKO victory.

Cris Cyborg was able to score a last second finish of Leslie Smith in the Bellator 259 headliner, with the official stoppage coming at 4:51 of Round 5 due to punches.

Austin-Vanderford-Paige-VanZant

PhotoCred: The Telegraph

In other action, Austin Vanderford (11-0 MMA) was able to keep his perfect record in tact after scoring a unanimous decision victory over fellow middleweight contender Fabian Edwards.

Fan favorite Valerie Loureda also competed at tonight’s Bellator 259 event, but wound up suffering the first loss of her professional career to Hannah Guy by way of unanimous decision.

Get all of tonight’s results and highlights below (via MMAJunkie):

Bellator 259 Main Card (Showtime at 9pm EST)

Champ Cris Cyborg def. Leslie Smith via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 4:51 – to defend women’s featherweight title

https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/1395953714704289793

Leandro Higo def. Darrion Caldwell via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Austin Vanderford def. Fabian Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jaleel Willis def. Maycon Mendonca via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Hannah Guy def. Valerie Loureda via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Bellator 259 Prelims (YouTube at 5:30pm EST)

Saad Awad def. Nate Andrews via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:16

Grant Neal def. Tyree Fortune via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:20

Sumiko Inaba def. Kristina Katsikis via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:35

Aviv Gozali def. Sean Felton via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:17

Davion Franklin def. Tyler King via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:02

Leah McCourt def. Janay Harding via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:42

Danny Sabatello def. Brett Johns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Alexander Shabliy def. Alfie Davis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

What did you think of tonight’s Bellator 259 event? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!


Topics:

Bellator Cris 'Cyborg' Justino Leslie Smith Valerie Loureda