UPDATED BELLATOR MMA™ FIGHTER RANKINGS FOLLOWING BELLATOR MMA 294: CARMOUCHE VS. BENNETT 2 AND BELLATOR 295: STOTS VS. MIX
LOS ANGELES – Following a thrilling weekend of action from the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in beautiful Honolulu, Patchy Mix (18-1) broke into the pound-for-pound rankings at No. 9 after capturing the Interim Bantamweight Championship and $1,000,000 BELLATOR World Bantamweight Grand Prix grand prize with his stunning first-round knockout of Raufeon Stots (19-2), while Flyweight World Champion Liz Carmouche (19-7) weathered the storm against rival DeAnna Bennett (13-8-1) en route to a fourth-round submission and second title defense.
The women’s pound-for-pound rankings received a shake up, as former Flyweight World Champion and Hawaii’s own Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (13-2) outpointed Kana Watanabe (11-2-1) and former Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (14-6) successfully debuted with the promotion with an all-out war against perennial contender Arlene Blencowe (15-10). With the win, Macfarlane vaulted to No. 2 at flyweight, while Watanabe fell to No. 3. McMann debuts at No. 2 in the featherweight division.
Elsewhere on the BELLATOR 294 card, hard-hitting heavyweight Tim Johnson (16-9) put on a show in front of his fellow servicemen and women to defeat American Top Team’s Said Sowma (8-5), moving to No. 6 in the division.
Plus, at BELLATOR 295, blue chip Hawaiian prospect Sumiko Inaba (6-0) announced her arrival in the flyweight division’s upper echelon when she put on a masterclass against former title challenger Veta Arteaga (7-5), moving up five spots to No. 5 in the rankings.
On May 12, BELLATOR MMA will return to Paris, France, for a talent-stacked event featuring a can’t-miss clash between former Middleweight World Champion Gegard Mousasi (49-8-2) and Fabian Edwards (11-2), who hopes to join his brother Leon Edwards as a world champion as soon as possible. Plus, Paris’ own Mansour Barnaoui (20-4) challenges former titleholder Brent Primus (11-3) in the opening round of the $1,000,000 BELLATOR Lightweight World Grand Prix in the co-main event. Rounding out the main card, former Welterweight World Champion Douglas Lima (32-11) will make his middleweight debut against top European contender Costello van Steenis (14-2).
The BELLATOR 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards main card airs LIVE on SHOWTIME beginning at 10 p.m. CEST/9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. The preliminary fights will stream live on the BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel, SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV beginning at 6 p.m. CEST/5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.
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Updated schedule of BELLATOR events – click links for updated fight cards
Fri. May 12 // BELLATOR 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards // Accor Arena // Paris, France
Fri. June 16 // BELLATOR 297: Nemkov vs. Romero // Wintrust Arena // Chicago, Ill
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