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#2) Can Arlene Blencowe pull off an upset and become Bellator Women’s Featherweight Champion?
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Arlene Blencowe has an incredible opportunity to steal all the headlines when she challenges Cris Cyborg for the Bellator women’s featherweight championship. This is her second title shot against the reigning champion and she’ll hope this fight has a different outcome.
The first bout between the two took place in 2020. Cyborg retained the belt via second submission after a rear-naked choke. ‘Angerfist’ regrouped and had a great showing last year. She won both her fights and showed many improvements. Blencowe defeated Dayana Silva by third-round technical knockout and then earned a unanimous decision over Pam Sorenson.
Sinead Kavanagh was originally slated to get a title shot and rematch with Cyborg. But the promotion was forced to look at other alternatives after Kavanagh sustained an injury. At 39, ‘Angerfist’ might not get another opportunity like this and will look to make the most of it.
#1) Who will become interim Bellator Bantamweight Champion?
Just when Bellator’s Bantamweight Grand Prix couldn’t get anymore intriguing, an Interim Bantamweight Champion will be crowned.
In addition to the qualifiers, the interim title bout will determine who will be the defending champion throughout the tournament. Reigning champion Sergio Pettis was originally scheduled to defend against Raufeon Stots in the opening round. But Pettis was forced to withdraw from the tournament and was replaced by former champion Juan Archuleta.
Stots has ascended the bantamweight rankings since joining the promotion and is definitely a fighter to keep an eye on. 'Supa' comes into the Grand Prix unbeaten in his past nine fights. His most recent win over Magomed Magomedov was his most impressive as he out-grappled him and earned a unanimous decision win.
Archuleta has a lot to prove in his own right. He’ll be competing for the first time since losing the bantamweight championship to Pettis last May. 'The Spaniard' will look to make a statement by handing Stots his first loss in the promotion and advance to the semi-finals.
