The first night of Bellator’s back-to-back events later this month has a new women’s featherweight bout on the bill.
[autotag]Amanda Bell[/autotag] (7-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) will take on [autotag]Leslie Smith[/autotag] (11-8-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) at Bellator 245. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with a Bellator official following an initial report from Sherdog.com.
Bellator 245 takes place Sept. 11 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., where Bellator has been holding every-other-week events the past several weeks during the COVID-19 era. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. The following night, Bellator 246 takes place at the same venue.
Smith will be looking to get back in the win column following a decision loss to Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 233 in November 2019. That snapped a three-fight winning streak that included a majority decision victory over Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 224 in her promotional debut after coming over from the UFC after a seven-fight run there.
Bell will be looking for her first winning streak since a modest two-fight run in 2017. At Bellator 233, she finished Janay Harding with a TKO with just 16 seconds left in their fight. That was her return to the win column after a 22-second knockout loss to Blencowe at Bellator 224. She has alternated wins and losses her past five fights.
With the addition, the Bellator 245 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN, 10 p.m. ET)
- Phil Davis vs. Lyoto Machida
- Gabrielle Holloway vs. Cat Zingano
- Taylor Johnson vs. Ed Ruth
- Raymond Daniels vs. Peter Stanonik
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie)
- Rafael Carvalho vs. Alex Polizzi
- Tyrell Fortune vs. Jack May
- Keith Lee vs. Vinicius Zani
- Khonry Gracie vs. Trevor Gudde
- Amanda Bell vs. Leslie Smith
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