With two losses to the current champion, Australian women’s featherweight fighter Arlene Blencowe needed to make a statement if she was to put herself in title contention again. The 36-year-old, Team Te Huna trained fighter did just that, stunning Amanda Bell in the opening 22-seconds.
The bout was part of Bellator 224 which took place at the Winstar World Casino in Oklahoma on Friday night (Saturday morning AEST).
A quick one-two dropped Bell and Blencowe immediately capitalised, raining down hammer-fists and as Bell worked back to her feet, Blencowe didn’t give her any time to recover, continuing with a barrage of punches to drop Bell a final time.
Woah! 👊💥😳One of the quickest finishes we’ve ever seen at just 22 seconds into round one as @ArleneAngerfist wins via KO! pic.twitter.com/MCQ781g3Jl
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 12, 2019
It’s the quickest stoppage of Blencowe’s career as she joins champ Budd with the most knockout victories (three) in the Bellator women’s featherweight division.
Blencowe’s most recent challenge for the title, back in December 2017 against Budd, came just short, as she was edged by a split decision. Two stoppages against quality opponents since that bout have put Blencowe back in contention for another challenge at that strap.
The champion Budd extended her winning streak to 11 fights as she stopped Olga Rubin inside the first round in the main event of the evening.
Main Card:
- Julia Budd def. Olga Rubin via TKO (Body Kick & Punches), Rd 1, 2:14 – Bellator women’s featherweight title
- Rafael Carvalho def. Chidi Njokuani via Decision (Unanimous)
- Juliana Velasquez def. Kristina Williams via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 4:03
- Ed Ruth def. Kiichi Kunimoto via TKO (Knee & Punches), Rd 2, 3:49
Preliminary Card:
- Lucas Brennan def. Thomas Lopez via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 3:02
- Joseph Holmes def. Kona Oliveira via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 2:41
- Bruna Ellen def. Elina Kallionidou via Decision (Unanimous)
- Nainoa Dung def. Brad Robison via Decision (Unanimous)
- Gabriel Varga def. Jamese Taylor via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 3:23
- Mike Jackson def. Kiefer Crosbie via Disqualification (Illegal Knee), Rd 1, 1:58
- Leslie Smith def. Sinead Kavanagh via Decision (Majority)
- Jordan Young def. Joel Buman via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 1, 3:20
- Arlene Blencowe (Australia) def. Amanda Bell via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:22
- Will Fleury def. Antonio Jones via Decision (Unanimous)
- A.J. Agazarm def. Jacob Landin via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:21
- Christian Edwards def. Justin Vargas via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:54
Julia Budd edges past Arlene Blencowe to retain featherweight title at Bellator 189
