Cris Cyborg Defends Featherweight Crown Over Game Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279

This fight between @criscyborg and @arleneangerfist has it all! 🌶#Bellator279 is LIVE on @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/Plp9Y3huPA

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 24, 2022

Arlene Blencowe wore various shades of red and purple on her face and body. A gash above her left eye needed a bridge to cover the expanse. Her nose was bloodied and battered. Yet after 20 minutes in the cage with Cris Cyborg at Bellator 279, the stout 39-year-old Australian pounded her chest and wanted more.

Against Cyborg, generally speaking, there's always more hurt if that's what you're looking for, and Blencowe got what she wanted. By the end of the fifth round Saturday evening at the venerable Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Cyborg (26-2) had done more than enough to earn a sweeping unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45). A point deduction in the opening round was the only blemish for the Brazilian mauler, who scored her fourth consecutive Bellator MMA featherweight title defense in punishing style.

Blencowe (15-9) fell short on her second attempt at winning the Brazilian great's Bellator featherweight title, but unlike their encounter in 2020 she avoided getting stopped.

"Thanks to Arlene for the nice battle tonight," said the 36-year-old Cyborg. "I'm just happy for the decision."

She seemed to enjoy the war, too, and smiled as Blencowe absorbed kicks and punches, tossing big throws, and showing once again that she has not lost any heat on her fastball.

The only drama at the end was in regards to Blencowe's fate. At the end, after the scorecards were read, Blencowe welled up and was consoled by her coaches.

The champion, meanwhile, was keen to look forward.

"I'm just looking for the biggest fight," Cyborg said. "I don't care if it's going to be Cat Zingano, or Amanda Nunes or Kayla Harrison. I don't know next. I just want the big fights for my fans."

The opening salvo in the latest million dollar Bellator tournament also garnered deserved headlines, as Raufeon Stots and Patrick Mix advanced to the semifinal round later this year.

Stots cracked Juan Archuleta with a knee to the top of the head before jumping on top of his opponent and crashing a pair of elbows to the face, forcing the referee to end their Bellator interim bantamweight title contest 16 seconds into the third round.

With Sergio Pettis injured and out of the Bellator bantamweight world grand prix, the promotion maintained the tournament's five-round format by making Stots versus Archuleta for a belt.

Archuleta, who lost the title to Pettis 11 months ago, came out fast attempting to physically dominate Stots. Both men scored and worked through a variety of clinch and grappling exchanges.

To start the third, Stots threw a high kick as Archuleta (25-4) moved in, changing the space between them allowing the knee to connect. The "Spaniard" stumbled backwards and Stots gave him no quarter.

Stots (18-1) is scheduled to defend the belt against the grand prix winner between Leandro Higo and Danny Sabatello, who fight for the right June 24 at the Mohegan Sun.

On the other side of the eight-man bracket, Mix stood a half-foot taller than Kyoji Horiguchi and looked every bit of it. That length and leverage paid off most often in grappling sequences. Mix spent 80% of the first round on Horiguchi's back, using a body triangle to maintain position and threaten the former Bellator bantamweight champion's neck on several occasions.

When Horiguchi kept Mix off of him, the Japanese fighter appeared to sort out distance, timing and rhythm. That formula worked three minutes into the third until Mix dove at Horiguchi's legs and again locked up back control.

An inadvertent head butt in Round 3 opened a cut over Mix's right eye, and a knee up the middle by Mix in the fourth cut Horiguchi above his left eye.

Hoping to seal the win, Mix, 28, went after an early takedown in the fifth round. The pair scrambled in and out of submission attempts, and it was Mix's submission wrestling game that earned him the unanimous decision nod, 48-47 across the board, with the first, third and fifth periods going to the winner on each judge's card. The result put Horiguchi on a two-fight skid for the first time in his highly regarded career.

"It was tough," said Mix, whose third straight win after his first defeat to Archuleta in 2020. "He was well prepared. I knew he was going to be well trained. I knew I had to go five."

"My favorite thing is proving people wrong. I was an underdog. I told my coaches before the fight, I'm not an underdog. I'm a dog. I'm a dog."

Mix faces either Magomed Magomedov or Enrique Barzola depending on the winner of their bout at Bellator 282.

Stepping into the Bellator cage for the first time since losing the promotion's flyweight belt to Juliana Velasquez in the same building at the end of 2020, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane did not do enough in the eyes of the judges to avoid her second career loss.

Judges were unanimous for Kish (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Loser of five of her last six bouts before upsetting Bellator's No. 1 ranked female flyweight, Kish (8-5) had no problems grappling with Macfarlane (11-2), in the Hawaiian's first bout since knee surgery last July. Kish scored on each of her four takedown attempts and denied the three that came her way.

In Round 3, after getting clipped and briefly going down to the canvas, Kish recovered into a double-leg that landed her in top control, effectively stymying any chance of a late comeback by "The Ilimanator."

Making his first appearance outside the Octagon since 2013, another Hawaiian favorite, Yancy Medeiros went toe to toe with Bellator mainstay Emmanuel Sanchez. The Hawaiian snapped a four-fight losing streak, the longest of his career, with a compelling points victory (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) that spoiled Sanchez's lightweight debut.

Twice a runner-up for the Bellator featherweight belt, Sanchez's output and forward pressure brought the most out of Medeiros, who welcomed exchanges in the center of the cage when he wasn't fending off takedowns. With his friend and training partner Nate Diaz seated cage-side, Medeiros (16-8) unleashed his jab, making the most of a five-inch reach advantage over the shorter Sanchez (20-8).

Fighting at welterweight for the first time in 12 years as a professional, all-time Bellator submission leader Goiti Yamauchi (27-5) earned his ninth with the promotion, tapping Levan Chokheli (10-2) at 3:49 of the opening round with a swinging armbar from the bottom. Said the 29-year-old Brazilian, who previously campaigned at 145 and 155 pounds, "I guarantee to you at welterweight I will be more dangerous." Leave it to Yamauchi to net the lone finish on the undercard.

Lance Gibson, Jr. (6-0) remained on the ascent, starting the night unanimously outpointing Nainoa Dung (4-3). Justin Gonzales improved to 13-1, taking a split decision against Kai Kamaka III (9-5). Dayana Silva (10-7) decisioned Janay Harding (6-6). And Bobby King outlasted Keoni Diggs to walk away with a hard-fight split decision.