Bellator 174: "Coenen vs. Budd" takes place tomorrow night (Fri., Mar. 3, 2017) at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. One of the original pioneers of women's MMA will seek to add one more title to her trophy case as veteran Marloes Coenen faces the streaking Julia Budd for the inaugural Featherweight title.
There's plenty more in store for fight fans that night in Oklahoma and live on Spike TV. A former Welterweight contender is on the road to what he hopes will be a match with the current champion, while a former Ultimate Fighter star will look to rebound in a key match as well.
Let's break it down:
145 lbs.: Marloes Coenen (23-7) vs. Julia Budd (9-2)
Naughty by Nature front man Treach once rapped "If not for bad luck, I would have none." That might be the new motto for long time MMA veteran Marloes "Rumina" Coenen. This fight was originally set to happen last year in Boise until Budd pulled out due to injury and left Coenen to face former UFC fighter Alexis Dufresne. Then to add insult to injury Dufresne missed weight by over five pounds and still wound up winning by submission, leaving nearly everyone involved flabbergasted at the outcome. I interviewed Coenen prior to a potential redemption bout with Talita Nogueira but to quote Chinua Achebe "Things Fall Apart" - this fight was scrapped when Nogueira missed weight badly.
Now at long last Coenen has her chance to turn things around and ascend to the top of Bellator's 145 lb. division as their inaugural champion. "The Jewel" Julia Budd has the potential to continue Coenen's streak of bad luck though, largely because she's on a good streak of her own with seven straight wins dating back to 2012. Arlene Blencowe gave her a really tough test at Bellator 162 but she prevailed by majority decision. Coenen is a submission specialist (74% of her wins) but Budd has only been tapped out once, and Budd is a grinder (56% of her wins) but does have three knockouts and one submission under her belt. I'm counting on Coenen's experience edge to make the difference.
Final prediction: Marloes Coenen takes a unanimous decision after five hard rounds
170 lbs.: Brandon Girtz (14-5) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (25-14)
The opposing of "crowd pleasing and effective" would be Fernando Gonzalez' last fight with Michael Page, a win for the latter that did neither man any favors. It was an unusually lackluster performance for a man whose nickname is "The Menifee Maniac" who has finished 64% of his wins (nine knockouts, seven submissions) and was on a five fight MMA win streak in Bellator before facing Page. Gonzalez is a guy you can't even count out regardless of the quality of his competition, and will almost certainly try to turn up the tempo in response to how boring his last fight was
Girtz himself has something to prove here after taking a loss to the undefeated Adam Piccolotti on the same card as Gonzalez, although after busting up Piccolotti in the third round, he definitely gave the phenom a scare. The size difference is actually manageable for the Lightweight as he comes up to Gonzalez' class - 5'7" with a 67" reach to 5'9" with a 68" reach. Don't count Girtz out by any means but Gonzalez should have a weight and strength advantage even though Girtz may use speed to his advantage.
Final prediction: Fernando Gonzalez wins by unanimous decision
265 lbs.: Justin Wren (12-2) vs. Roman Pizzolato (9-6)
I've written the fight preview in this slot no less than three times. At one point it was Kendall Grove vs. Chris Honeycutt, then it was Grove facing replacement fighter Mike "Biggie" Rhodes, and now out of the blue a brand new fight has emerged for the main card that was originally going to be featured on the Spike.com prelims. Justin Wren is certainly deserving of a Spike TV bout - he's on a five fight win streak and undefeated in his Bellator tenure. Even now there are question marks given Wren took a five year break during that five fight streak, but he's done well in Bellator. Pizzolato's record may seem lackluster, but he's got two straight wins by knockout and rear naked choke, and a third over a former Ultimate Fighter veteran would be a real feather in his cap. I don't expect it though.
Final prediction: Justin Wren wins via knockout
195 lbs.: Rafael Lovato Jr. (4-0) vs. Charles Hackmann (4-4)
Here's another fight out of the blue that didn't emerge until the day of the weigh ins. Lovato is a big deal in jiu-jitsu, having become only the third American ("The Prodigy" BJ Penn was the first) to win a Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu championship as a black belt. His record reflects that - 75% of his wins as a pro MMA fighter are by submission. Charles Hackmann is... well he's Charles Hackmann. I respect anybody who's fought in the cage eight times because that's eight times more than I have. You can at least argue he's improving. After an inauspicious 1-3 start he's turned it around and won three of his last four fights. He even owns two wins by submission, but compared to Lovato's experience I doubt that's the least bit helpful here.
Final prediction: Rafael Lovato Jr. wins via rear naked choke
That's a wrap!
MMAmania.com will deliver coverage of Bellator 174 tomorrow night, with results throughout the evening starting at 7:00 p.m. ET for "prelim" fights followed by Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET. To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.