Bellator 259 concluded with Cris Cyborg retaining her Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship in a five round martial arts masterclass that culminated in her knocking out Leslie Smith once again, with only nine seconds remaining in the fight. MMA UK was able to interview some of the winners from Bellator 259 at the post-fight press conference.
Leah McCourt
Hey Leah, this is Tom from MMA UK, big congratulations on the win, to face adversity like that in the second round and then turn the tables with that upkick and then go seamlessly into a triangle was just spectacular, I’m sure you made Belfast proud with that one, how are you feeling after that performance?
I’m proud of myself, it’s been a tough 15 months, I’ve just been praying all this, I have to give God the glory he’s who got me here, his hand’s given me everything in life, I’m so delighted I was able to prove something to my self and make my daughter proud.
Like you said before, you’ve faced adversity outside of the cage as well, coming up to this fight and this fight’s been long awaited, so with such a positive result to say the least, how are you feeling about the future?
Obviously with the quarantine when you land it can affect the training that you do, to make weight, I have my normal regime and I just wasn’t able to follow through this week but looking to the future, I need to fight more often, I need to get out as soon as possible, these long twelve months, fifteen months, they’re not good for my progression and I’d like Bellator to get me out as soon as possible.
Davion Franklin
Hey Davion, big congratulations on the win. The shots just seemed to get more and more powerful until you got the knockout, just spectacular, well done, anyone next you’ve got in mind?
Anyone next in the top 10 rankings, I’m looking to climb up those rankings.
I’m sure it won’t take you long with performances like that, well done.
Yes sir, thank you.
Aviv Gozali
Hey Aviv, this is Tom from MMA UK, big congratulations on your victory and putting on such a dominant performance, how does it feel pulling off the submission in the first round like that?
It feels amazing, I got a little bit of experience on that stand up, I threw a couple of kicks you know, it was fun.
Should everyone else be on notice? Can we expect more submissions from you?
Yes of course, I’m going to break the record for the most submissions in Bellator and you know, that’s what I’m doing, submitting people.
Grant Neal
Hey Grant, congratulations on the win and getting two rear naked chokes back to back, how does it feel beating an undefeated fighter when you’re undefeated yourself?
I don’t really look at that, being undefeated is just a side effect of the hard work that I put in and that’s a great side effect, don’t get me wrong I’m very proud of the win, I love what I do, I work really hard on it, so it’s really important to me that I don’t just focus on being undefeated, I focus on getting better and being undefeated is simply the side effect of the hard work I put in.
Hannah Guy
Hey Hannah, thank you very much for your time, this is Tom from MMA UK, congratulations on your hard-fought victory and well done on defeating an undefeated fighter, how does it feel getting the big win on your Bellator debut?
It feels amazing honestly, my coach thought I lost the first round, so we went in there and I just fought as hard as I could, at the end of the day that’s all that really matters, that I’m fighting as hard as I can, putting in 100%, I felt like I did that so this one’s really sweet.
Leandro Higo
Hey Leandro, this is Tom from MMA UK, big congratulations on your win, that was a tough fight and you really hard to work for the victory, well done. Do you think there should be a trilogy fight in the future to settle the score or is the score already settled now that you’ve avenged your loss to Darrion?
I’ve already fought him twice, he’s a former world champion and now it’s my turn, now it’s my turn to fight for the title again, this opportunity should not pass me by, this is my opportunity and I’ve just earned it.
Subscribe
