At Bellator 174, Marloes Coenen will be battling Julia Budd for the right to be called the first ever Bellator MMA Women’s Featherweight Champion.
Coenen is a former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion and she’s ready for the fight with Budd, whom she claims is mentally weak.
“I saw her fight with Arlene Blencowe, and it was completely different from my fight with Arlene Blencowe. I think Arlene also had a lot of injuries, and she didn’t have too good of a training camp, so that tells me enough about Julia. I think she’s very strong; she has good cardio. I don’t know if her mental game is that strong because she refused to fight Cyborg; I believe it was in Strikeforce or in Invicta. That tells me something. She pulled out twice for our fights, because I wanted to fight her in January. She said, ‘no no, I cannot make it until March...’ So that tells me a little about her mental game, but she’s tough. I know I’m in for a very tough fight, and I’m prepared. I don’t think her standup is as good as mine. I don’t think her ground is as good as mine. The wrestling, it will be very interesting. She has a really good wrestling game, especially against the cage,” Coenen said to Bloody Elbow.
The Dutch fighter has only suffered a single defeat in her Bellator MMA tenure, that loss came to UFC veteran Alexis Dufresne. However, like any good fight, Coenen has learned from her loss to Dufresne.
“The first time when Ronda lost, I was like, ‘well, she had it coming.’ The second time, I could feel her pain. I think I grew as a person from it. If you truly lose on a stage, it’s a vulnerable thing. Everybody’s tough, fighters this, fighters are so tough, but it’s a very vulnerable thing. If you lose in front of all those people, and then they can replay it and replay it and comment on it and everything. So, yeah, I hated that I lost. I know I’m a better fighter than Dufresne. It was my own fault... Good for her, she did a good job. I know why I lost, but I truly lost, and I learned a lot from it. I think as a human, I grew from it,” says Coenen.
Bellator 174 takes place on Friday, March 3 from the Winstar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma with Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd headlining.
