This past Saturday in the co-main event of the historic Bellator 300 card, the women’s featherweight title was on the line. One of the all time greats made her return as Cris Cyborg (27-2) defended her title against “Alpha” Cat Zingano (14-5).
Since making the jump over to Bellator from the UFC, both Cyborg and Zingano had been undefeated. Zingano wanted this fight against Cyborg more than anything else and she was confident in her abilities to get the job done on Saturday night. However, everyone knew that she had her work cut out for her.
When the fight started, immediately I was seeing problems for Zingano. She was not able to get Cyborg down in the early grappling exchanges and Cyborg was hitting her with big shots. As the first round went on, Zingano kept getting clipped and hurt by the champion.
Eventually, she shot for a sloppy takedown and Cyborg blasted her with a shot. Zingano turtled up and Cyborg finished her with a barrage of big punches. The fight was called and Cyborg once again successfully defended her Bellator featherweight title.
What’s next after Bellator 300?
After her win on Saturday night, Cyborg called out top contender Leah McCourt and the two had a face-off in the middle of the cage. If you’re looking at Bellator, McCourt would be the next in line after her TKO win over former UFC title challenger and Olympic Silver Medalist Sara McMann.
However, I’m personally hoping that we don’t see that fight. I’m not trying to disrespect McCourt, but there are other fights out there for Cyborg that I’m interested in. We all know that the PFL has been engaged in talks to purchase Bellator. I’m personally hoping it happens before the end of the year.
If it were to happen, say around the time of the PFL Championships in November, the stars could align for a megafight for Cyborg. That megafight would be a fight against Larissa Pacheco. Pacheco has been a monster and is on the verge of winning her second straight PFL season championship.
While the superfight used to be Cyborg – Kayla Harrison, you can bet that people would want to see the Bellator champion face off against fellow Brazilian and current PFL champion Larissa Pacheco. If the sale doesn’t go through, McCourt gets the fight. However, if it does, Cyborg deserves a bigger fight against Pacheco or Kayla Harrison.