Let’s try this again.
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen (23-7) will finally meet Julia Budd (9-2) for the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight title. MMAFighting.com brought word of the bout, which is set for Bellator 174 in Thackerville, OK on March 3.
Coenen was set to meet Budd for the championship on May 20 last year. The bout wasn’t even scheduled for the Spike TV broadcast. Instead, they were going to showcase the fight on the prelims online. This time, the ladies will headline the main card.
The reason for the bout falling through the first time was an injury Budd had suffered. She was replaced by Alexis Dufresne, who ended up submitting Coenen in the first round. Coenen will look for her first win since August 2015 and holding gold in 2017 will most likely wash away the memories of her misfortune last year.
Since being submitted by Ronda Rousey in 39 seconds back in Nov. 2011, Budd has won seven fights in a row. Two of her most notable wins in that span came against Charmaine Tweet and former WIBA and WBF boxing champion Arlene Blencowe.
If everything goes according to plan, this will be the first Bellator event to feature two women in the main event.
