Bellator 174: "Coenen vs. Budd" goes down this Friday night (March 3, 2017) at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., as mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Marloes Coenen faces the streaking Julia "The Jewel" Budd for the promotion's inaugural women's Featherweight championship.
For Budd, this opportunity can't have come soon enough -- she's arguably been ready for it since her Bellator debut. She's continued to impress ever since, racking up seven straight wins between two different promotions. In fact, were it not for an injury last year this fight might have taken place in Boise, Idaho. Either way, the paths of these veterans were bound to cross eventually with Coenen in MMA since the early 2000's, although Budd has a combined martial arts career spanning nearly as long.
In today's interview for MMAmania.com, Budd talks about finally getting to fight Coenen for the women's 145-pound title after anticipating this bout since May 2016 ... or perhaps even longer.
"Yes, it's even been more than a year. We were supposed to fight in 2015 and it never ended up happening. It's the third time and I'm so so excited."
When the second opportunity fell apart for the event in Boise, Budd had to sit on the sidelines and watch as Alexis Dufresne scored a huge upset as her replacement.
"I was in shock! For sure, it was shocking, and then it's like, 'That's the fight game.' At the end of the day I just feel like maybe (Coenen) didn't take her serious enough beforehand or whatever, I don't know what went down, but definitely we were all silent in the gym when we were watching it."
It was the start of a crazy year for Coenen where things just didn't break her way with multiple foes missing weight, but that doesn't make Budd take this lightly. She's got both the open title and a seven-fight win streak on the line.
"I'm professional and the title's on the line for it, so if anything I'll be a little underweight for sure. I didn't even realize that I was on that win streak until Bellator put it out there and then I was like, 'Oh my God, that's awesome.' The main thing is getting the job done on Friday night and making sure that I'm victorious that night and that'll add to my winning streak and that's awesome."
At this point, Budd has the feeling she's read the book on "Rumina" forward and backward, but she also wants everyone to know that there's no experience edge for Coenen when it comes to combat.
"I feel like I've studied her so much, but then you've always to keep in consideration that 'anything can happen' factor. So it's like all of my martial arts experience I believe will be helping me to make sure that I'm victorious on March 3rd. I've been fighting for a long time as well. Maybe not in mixed martial arts as long as her, but I've been fighting in Muay Thai and kickboxing since 2002 so, I'm pretty confident going into it."
That's a solid point that is only bolstered by the fact Budd has faced UFC champ Germaine de Randamie twice, losing a kickboxing fight and then winning the MMA rematch in Strikeforce.
"I feel great about (beating de Randamie), but at the end of the day it's like, okay yeah that's cool that I beat her and she's the champ right now, but at the end of the day it's like I need to prove myself on March 3rd and show that I'm one of the best 145ers in the world. Everything's riding on that to me. That's kind of what I feel like right now and then I'll celebrate even more about beating both of them then."
At the same time, Budd does take a moment to acknowledge that it's a historic moment in MMA to have 145-pound female champions crowned in both Bellator and UFC.
"I think it's awesome. I'm so excited that UFC brought in the division and crowned a champion, and I think the more energy and attention to the division the better, whether it's from Bellator, whether it's from Invicta or from UFC."
Coenen and Budd have a common opponent in Bellator via Arlene Blencowe, but from Budd's point of view their respective fights are worlds apart.
"It doesn't mean anything now. Yeah, I went to decision with Arlene, (but) I think Arlene was better when I fought her than when Marloes fought her, so at the end of the day none of that really matters. It's what we do to one another and I'm a different fighter than Arlene is, that's for sure."
Budd definitely puts the "F" in focused when it comes to how determined she is to win in Thackerville. By her own account, a great training camp has only increased that drive.
"The preparation's been really intense. You know I've been getting out of all of my comfort zones, so that was really what this training camp was, on top of like all of the mental, physical preparation that I've put in. I feel like I've broken through any of those comfort zones I had before, whether it was in my sparring, or on the pads, or running. I've broken all those barriers. When we sat down and we found out what night I was going to be fighting and the training camp for this, that was this was about -- just getting totally out of your comfort zone and making sure that I definitely want to finish this fight as soon as possible if I can. I'm also super confident that I've got the cardio and the energy to go 25 minutes if I have to."
Don't miss Bellator 174 on Friday to see if Budd can welcome Coenen into her un-comfort zone -- where she definitely won't feel the love. Complete audio of our interview is embedded in the video player above and complete Bellator MMA coverage can be found right here on fight night.