Cris Cyborg will look to successfully defend the Bellator Featherweight Title for a third time against Sinead Kavanagh.
The title will be defended at Bellator 271 on November 12. Taking place inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida, the Showtime-produced show will be open to fans. Bellator President Scott Coker made the fight official while on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour.
Cyborg last fought in May, beating Leslie Smith for the title at Bellator 259 via TKO. She beat Julia Budd at Bellator 238 to win the title, which was her Bellator debut. A former Invicta FC, Strikeforce, and UFC Featherweight Champion, Cyborg made her MMA debut in 2005. Losing her first fight, Cyborg would go on a 21-fight unbeaten streak before losing to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 in 2018. She is currently on a four-fight win streak.
Representing SBG Ireland, Kavanagh is on a two-fight win streak. She last fought in October 2020, beating Katharina Lehner via unanimous decision. In her last five fights, Kavanagh is 3-2. Kavanagh has been requesting this fight for a long time, and Coker was finally able to give her what she wanted.
She (Sinead) came looking for Cyborg," Coker said. "They've been after us for 5-6 months. Finally, we said, 'OK, let's do it, let's get it on. You want her that bad?' Before, we couldn't get certain fighters into the country because of the restriction of travel. Now, we can order the proper visas... here we are. I think this is going to be a slugfest."
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