Carmouche vs Watanabe Co-Headlines Bellator 261

Bellator MMA has announced the booking of a pivotal women’s Flyweight match between Liz Carmouche and Kana Watanabe, which will co-headline the upcoming Bellator 261 event on June 25, 2021 in Uncasville, Conn.

Carmouche is 2-0 so far inside the Bellator cage and was last seen defeating Vanessa Porto at Bellator 256 in April 2021. Watanabe, meanwhile, made her official Bellator debut as a fighter under contract with the promotion at Bellator 255, defeating Alejandra Lara via split decision.

With Carmouche ranked No. 2 and Watanabe sitting comfortably at No. 4, it’s easy to assume that the winner could get a shot at the title against current 125-pound champion, Juliana Vasquez, who is set to defend her throne against promotion’s 125-pound kickboxing champion, Denise Kielholtz, in the main event of Bellator 262 on July 16, 2021.

Bellator 261 will be headlined by an interim Heavyweight title fight between Timothy Johnson and Valentin Moldavsky, with the winner then getting the chance to unify the titles against current champion Ryan Bader.

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