"Respect to a proper gun fight" - Conor McGregor congratulates Cris Cyborg and Sinead Kavanagh for Bellator 271 headliner

Bellator 271's headlining fight saw Cris Cyborg once again defend her featherweight title, knocking out SBG Ireland fighter Sinead Kavanagh in the first round.

With this victory, Cyborg climbed to 25-2, with four wins under the Bellator MMA banner. Whilst Kavanagh did come up short, the Irish striker threw everything she had at Cyborg, leaving a lasting impression with many of those watching.

Both Cyborg and Kavanagh appear to have impressed former UFC double champion Conor McGregor. 'The Notorious' recently praised both fighters' willingness to throw down in the middle of the Bellator ring. He stated:

"Respect to a Proper gun fight! Congrats on getting to the title Sinead, a prestigious goal achieved! We dust it off and we go again! Congrats cyborg on defending. It will be a hard task for someone to beat her in this form."

Conor McGregor and Sinead Kavanagh are teammates at SBG Ireland, training under the tutelage of John Kavanagh. The Irish gym has been struggling somewhat to pick up high profile wins as of late, with McGregor picking up back-to-back losses against Dustin Poirier in 2021 as well.

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What is next for Cris Cyborg?

Cris Cyborg may only be four fights into her Bellator career, but she has already defeated three of the top five in Bellator's women's featherweight division. Looking within Bellator's current roster of female 145lb fighters, Cat Zingano appears to be the logical next opponent for Cyborg.

Zingano is also undefeated in Bellator, having picked up back-to-back wins over Gabrielle Holloway and Olivia Parker. Similar to Cris Cyborg, she is a former UFC fighter and considered a legend of women's MMA.

However, another potential opponent for Cris Cyborg is PFL champion Kayla Harrison. The undefeated judoka recently became a free agent and was ringside for Bellator 271.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, she stated the following in regards to Cris Cyborg:

"My first impression was she's not as big as I thought she was gonna be. But all joking aside, obviously Cyborg is a trailblazer in the sport, you know, she's a pioneer. She's a trailblazer and the only problem with that is I'm on this trail now."