Bellator MMA is heading back to Hawaii for a second consecutive year of back-to-back events. The promotion will host Bellator 294 and Bellator 295 at the Neil S. Blasdell Center in Honolulu on Friday, April 21 and Friday, April 22, respectively.
The promotion told Hawaiian news outlet KHON2 that Liz Carmouche will defend her Bellator women's flyweight championship in a rematch against DeAnna Bennett on the Friday card. Interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots and Patchy Mix will conclude the $1 million Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix the next evening at Bellator 295.
Carmouche is a perfect 5-0 since signing with Bellator after a failed bid for Valentina Shevchenko's UFC women's flyweight championship. Carmouche has stopped 80% of her Bellator opponents, including a successful debut against Bennett and a pair of title wins against former champion Juliana Velasquez. Bennett has gone 3-0 since being submitted by Carmouche in what was also Bennett's Bellator debut.
Bellator 295 is something of a homecoming for Stots. The interim bantamweight champion made his Bellator debut in Honolulu in 2019. He also defeated Juan Archuleta with a highlight-reel head kick in Honolulu last year to become the interim champion. A subsequent win over Danny Sabatello put Stots within reach of the $1 million tournament prize. Mix entered the Grand Prix as a dark horse. He impressed everyone by defeating tournament favorite Horiguchi in Hawaii last year and suffocated Magomed Magomedov to secure his place in the finals.
Bellator will load both cards with Hawaiian fighters. Yancy Medeiros, who made a successful Bellator debut in Hawaii last year, will fight Charlie Leary. Former flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will compete on the main card. Additionally, Keoni Diggs, Kai Kamaka III and Sumiko Inaba are all expected to participate.
Bellator ran a similar pair of events last year. Bellator 278 and Bellator 279 took place at the same Honolulu venue on back-to-back nights in April 2022. Carmouche controversially defeated Velasquez on night one to win the Bellator flyweight championship. Cris Cyborg successfully defended her women's featherweight championship against Arlene Blencowe later that weekend.
