Cristiane
Justino will defend her featherweight crown against Leslie
Smith in the
Bellator 259 main event.
The California-based promotion recently announced the booking.
Bellator 259 takes place on May 21 at Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Conn., and the main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m.
ET/6 p.m. PT. Two other bouts were confirmed for the card: Adam
Piccolotti vs. Georgi
Karakhanyan at lightweight and Christian
Edwards vs. Ben Parrish
at light heavyweight.
Justino and Smith initially squared off at UFC 198, where “Cyborg”
earned a technical knockout victory 1:21 into the opening stanza of
a 140-pound catchweight affair.
“I believe [after] five years she’s going to be a better fighter,”
Justino said. “More training, more working and fighting. More
experience. The first fight was very fast, so I think this one is
going to be a longer fight. She’s a warrior. She likes to fight and
it’s going to be nice to fight somebody like this.”
A former 145-pound champion in the UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC,
Justino claimed her fourth featherweight crown with a fourth-round
TKO of Julia Budd at
Bellator 238. Most recently, the 35-year-old Brazilian defended the
strap with a second-round submission of Arlene
Blencowe at Bellator 249 this past October.
Smith has won two of three Bellator appearances since rejoining the
organization in 2019. “The Peacemaker earned a majority verdict
over Sinead
Kavanagh at Bellator 224 before dropping a unanimous decision
against Blencowe at Bellator 233. In her last outing, the
38-year-old Cesar
Gracie Fight Team representative outpointed Amanda Bell
at Bellator 245.
“Of course, I want this fight,” Smith said. “Everyone’s goal is to
get a title in the premiere organization, which this is. This is
the best organization for my weight class, and the best possible
place I can be. I can guarantee it will be an entertaining fight.”