Leslie Smith will be taking a crack at Bellator’s featherweight division.
Smith last fought in the UFC in 2017 when she scored a TKO victory over Amanda Lemos at UFC Fight Night 113. She was on a two-fight win streak when she was released from the UFC back in April of last year. She was supposed to fight Aspen Ladd who missed weight and the fight was canceled when Smith refused to do a Catchweight bout.
Smith has fought for Bellator before, she has fought pretty much everywhere and Bellator is lucky to have her and she seems happy to be there. Yahoo Sports first reported the signing she confirmed later on social media. She also commented on the warm welcome she received from fans and staff at Bellator.
In the Yahoo article, Smith said, “What I’m so excited about signing with Bellator for is that I do not think they do not have that climate of fear that was present in the UFC.” Smith has tried while she was there and during her time away to get fighters together unionized but also said Bellator is, “a company that cares. They listen to their fighters. They put their fighters first and they give them the opportunity to have sponsors and there is a lot of expression that can happen inside those deals with the sponsors.”
One of Smith’s standout fights was UFC 180 when she was facing Jessica Eye and had that bout stopped due to her cauliflower ear being split open and seemingly falling off. The cage side doctor stopped the bout but she wanted to continue. The time off has allowed Smith to stay busy with learning healthier eating habits which is something she told Yahoo she was not doing when making bantamweight for the UFC.
Who do you think she will face when she returns to Bellator?
