Hawaii’s own Sumiko Inaba will put her undefeated record on the line at home later this month.
Flyweight Inaba (3-0) is set to face Whittany Pyles (3-4) at Bellator 279 on April 23, 2022. Promotion officials confirmed the bout Wednesday, following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
31-year old Inaba has spent her entire professional career under the Bellator MMA banner, after compiling a 5-1 record as an amateur. All three wins have come inside the distance; most recently, she submitted Randi Field at Bellator 269 last October.
Pyles will be making her promotional debut in the fight, riding a two-fight win streak into the Hawaiian card. In her last outing, she picked up a unanimous decision victory over Lisa Mauldin at LFA 127.
Despite starting her career at 0-3, Pyles has turned things around, going 3-1 in her next four bouts.
Bellator 279 takes place at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii on April 23, 2022. The card currently features the following match-ups:
- Cris Cyborg (c) vs. Arlene Blencowe – for the Bellator MMA women’s featherweight championship
- Juan Archuleta vs. Raufeon Stots – for the Bellator MMA interim bantamweight championship / bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Justine Kish
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Patchy Mix – bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Lance Gibson Jr. vs. Nainoa Dung
- Kai Kamaka III vs. Justin Gonzales
- Goiti Yamauchi vs. Levan Chokheli
- Yancy Medeiros vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
- Keoni Diggs vs. Bobby King
- Randi Field vs. Maraya Miller
- Janay Harding vs. Dayana Silva
- Ryan Dela Cruz vs. Jordan Winski
- Sumiko Inaba vs. Whittany Pyles
