Arlene Blencowe vs Leslie Smith added to Bellator 233

A women’s featherweight contest between Australia’s Arlene Blencowe and American Leslie Smith has been added to the Bellator 233 main card.

MMAFighting.com was first to report on the fight with Blencowe then confirming the bout via social media.

Since signing for Bellator back in 2015, Blencowe has been a Bellator regular, having fought 10 times. Her lone losses have at the hands of Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd, twice.

The first bout was back in 2017 before the two rematched for the title in December 2017 where the Aussie was edged by split points decision. Since then, Blencowe has looked spectacular, stopping Amber Leibrock and Amanda Bell.

Her opponent, Leslie Smith, is a former UFC fighter who competed in the bantamweight division. The UFC decided to part ways with Smith despite the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter winning back-to-back fights.

Smith had the last fight on her contract scheduled for Apri 2018 but her opponent failed to make weight, Smith proposed to sign a new contract. The UFC paid her purse and win bonus before releasing her. Smith is also Project Spearhead which is a fighter unionisation effort Smith is very vocal about.

Bellator picked Smith up for their featherweight division. Smith made her debut in July and walked away with a majority decision against Sinead Kavanagh.

Bellator 223 will take place at WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma, USA on Saturday, 9 November (AEDT).

The card is headlined by a middleweight bout between John Salter and Costello van Steenis and looks as per below currently.

Main Card:

• John Salter vs. Costerllo van Steenis
• Muhammed Lawal vs. Andrew Kapel
• Leslie Smith vs. Arlene Blencowe (Australia)
• Tyrell Fortune vs. Timothy Johnson

Preliminary Card:

• Christian Edwards vs. Cesar Gutierrez
• Kyle Crutchmer vs. Antonio Jones