Cyborg Vs. Kavanagh To Headline Bellator 271

Scott Coker conjures Cyborg vs. Kavanagh in a Bellator Featherweight title fight at Bellator 271.

Cris Cyborg vs. Sinead Kavanagh is on its way to Bellator 271.

Cyborg vs. Kavanagh will headline Bellator 271 with Cyborg’s Bellator Featherweight title on the line. The event takes place on Fri., Nov. 12 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. airing on Showtime. Bellator President Scott Coker confirmed the news to Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

Cyborg (24-2-0-1) is undefeated since signing with the promotion, winning the featherweight crown in her debut against Julia Budd (watch highlights) via fourth-round technical knockout (TKO). She defended the title in subsequent fights with her first career submission win against Arlene Blencowe and a TKO of Leslie Smith with nine seconds remaining (watch here) in their fight.

Kavanagh (7-2) had a rough start to her Bellator career, going 2-4 in her first six fights. The fifth-ranked women’s featherweight fighter appears to have turned a corner with consecutive wins against Olga Rubin and Katharina Lehner.

Cyborg, a two-time recipient of Female Fighter of the Year (2009-2010) at the World MMA Awards, is the former UFC Women’s Featherweight champion. She captured the vacant title by beating Tonya Evinger at UFC 214 in July 2017 and subsequently defended it against Holly Holm and Yana Kunitskaya. She lost the title to reigning champion Amanda Nunes and bounced back against Felicia Spencer before a messy divorce with the UFC.

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