Bellator is going back to Hawaii in a big way.
The promotion returns to the islands for a pair of events on back-to-back nights at Neal S. Blaisdell Center for Bellator 278 on April 22 and Bellator 279 on April 23. The events will feature multiple title fights as Cris Cyborg (25-2) is set to face Arlene Blencowe (15-8) in a featherweight championship rematch and Sergio Pettis (22-5) takes on Raufeon Stots (17-1) as a part of the $1 million bantamweight grand prix. MMA Junkie confirmed the news following an initial report from KHON2.
Bellator was last in Hawaii in Dec. 2019, when the promotion ran Bellator 235 and Bellator 236 on back-to-back nights.
Although no fights have been announced for Bellator 278, the Bellator 279 card is stacking up with a strong lineup. In addition to the title fights, Kyoji Horiguchi (29-4) will face Patchy Mix (15-1) in a first-round bantamweight grand prix match and Hawaii’s own Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-1) returns to action to meet Justine Kish (7-5).
Following preliminary bouts, the main card for Bellator 278 is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET and the main card for Bellator 279 starts at 4:30 p.m. ET. Both events will air live on Showtime.
The lineup of Bellator 279 currently includes:
- Champ Sergio Pettis vs. Raufeon Stots – for bantamweight title
- Champ Cris Cyborg vs. Arlene Blencowe – for featherweight title
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Patchy Mix
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Justine Kish
