Bellator 300: Three title fights in historic night

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Bellator 300: Three Title Fights In Historic Night
Cris Cyborg will make another defence of her title at Bellator 300. Photo: Inpho.
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Michael Bolton

Bellator 300 will be the main attraction for MMA fans this weekend with three title fights on the line in San Diego.

After the heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Linton Vassell was cancelled due to illness for Vassell, the lightweight title will serve as the main event, as Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his title against Brent Primus.

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The cousin of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Usman has looked unstoppable since joining Bellator in 2021. He has a 17-0 record, and will go into Saturday's fight as the favourite against Primus.

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Photo: Sofascore[/caption]

After claiming the title against Patricky Pitbull at Bellator 288, he made light work of Benson Henderson with a first round submission at Bellator 292.

Primus, a former champion, will have his work cut out on Saturday, but goes into the fight off the back of a victory over Mansour Barnaoui in May.

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In the co-main event, Cris Cyborg will be aiming to continue her dominance of the women's featherweight division when she takes on Cat Zingano.

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Photo: Sofascore[/caption]

Since joining Bellator from the UFC in 2020, Cyborg has dominated everyone put in front of her with five straight wins, all in title fights. Her last defence was a decision win against Arlene Blencowe in April 2022, as she aims to clear out the division.

Cyborg could face her toughest task yet against Zingano, who comes into Saturday's fight on a four-fight win streak, with her last victory coming against Ireland's Leah McCourt.

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At 41 years old, it may be the last chance for Zingano, a former UFC title challenger, to get her hands on gold, and will have to perform to her best to have any chance of defeating Cyborg.

The third title fight of the night comes in the women's flyweight division, with Liz Carmouche defending her title against former champion Ilima-Lei MacFarLane.

This will be Carmouche's third title defence, and she is on a six-fight win-streak, including four finishes in a row, leading up to this weekend.

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Photo: Sofascore[/caption]

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For MacFarLane, who is on a two-fight winning streak since losing the belt to Juliana Velasquez in 2020, will need to show her form that made her champion, with Carmouche showing her true quality since joining from the UFC in 2020.

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However, due to MacFarlane missing weight, she can no longer win the title, and can only be retained by Carmouche. Should MacFarlane win, it would likely make her the number one contender in the next fight.

For Irish fans, Leah McCourt will be in action in the prelims against Sara McMann. After a close loss to title challenger Zingano back in May, McCourt will hope for an impressive showing on Saturday to put her back in the title picture.

With Cyborg clearing out so much of the division, an impressive finish from either fighter could put them in contention for a title fight.

Live coverage of Bellator 300 will be shown on Virgin Media Two, with the action getting underway at 11:30pm Irish time.

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