Arlene Blencowe thinks she's earned another title shot with win over Leslie Smith at Bellator 233

THACKERVILLE, Okla. – Arlene Blencowe thinks she’s positioned herself as the No. 1 contender after this past Friday.

She defeated Leslie Smith by unanimous decision at Bellator 233, outpointing her on the strength of her jab en route to a 30-27 sweep on the judges’ scorecards.

Blencowe (13-7 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) was narrowly edged out by current 145-pound champion Julia Budd nearly two years ago at Bellator 189 for the women’s featherweight title. It was her second loss to the champ.

Since then, Blencowe has won three in a row and thinks she’s done enough to get the next title shot against the winner of Budd and Cris Cyborg, who are set to fight for Budd’s title at Bellator 236 on Jan. 25.

“Obviously, since my controversial split decision loss to Julia, I’ve just worked my way back into the next title shot,” Blencowe told MMA Junkie after her win over Smith. “I knew just getting wins is what I needed. I got two stoppage wins. I was hoping for a third win by stoppage, but we also knew that Leslie was a tough girl, so she doesn’t go down easy. But I definitely I think I’ve earned my spot to get another shot at the title.”

And while avenging her loss to Budd is definitely on her mind, a stylistic matchup against Cyborg is also something that interests her.

“To be honest, if it’s Julia, yeah, that would be awesome,” Blencowe said. “I’ve got some redemption to do there. But Cyborg’s another awesome fight. I’d love to stand in there and bang it out with her. I’ll just be sitting back in January, just excited to watch a good, quality fight, and I think both girls are going to be absolutely awesome.”