Julia Budd is back to her winning ways.
In her first fight since losing the women’s featherweight chamionship, Budd was mostly dominant as she earned a unanimous decision win over a game Jessy Miele on Friday at Bellator 244. After 15 minutes, the judges scored it 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 for Budd (14-3 MMA, 8-1 BMMA), who expressed how important it was for her to get back on track after losing the title to Cris Cyborg in January.
If there was a theme to Budd’s performance, it might’ve been best summed up by the old adage “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” as she came out hesitant in the early going of the first two rounds.
Fighting southpaw, Miele (9-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) landed the first good strike of Round 1, a hard kick to the body, and it appeared to affect Budd’s approach. She was hesitant, with Miele choosing to close distance but also getting pegged each time. It wasn’t until the final minute that Budd secured a dominant position, taking the action from a standing clinch to the mat to close out the round.
Miele again came out string in the early going of Round 2, but Budd was able to stave off anything serious until she secured another takedown and finished with hard ground-and-pound.
By the third round, Budd clearly had her confidence and secured a third takedown about a minute in and remained in dominant top position until the final seconds. She worked hard for a finish, trying to secure an arm-triangle choke but couldn’t.
It didn’t matter, though, as she was dominant for much of the fight to earn the win.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 244 results include:
- Julia Budd def. Jessy Miele via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Valentin Moldavsky def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- John Salter def. Andrew Kapel via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:11
- Yaroslav Amosov def. Mark Lemminger via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
- Sidney Outlaw def. Adam Piccolotti via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Josh Hill def. Erik Perez via unanimous (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Weber Almeida def. Salim Mukhidinov via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:57
- John de Jesus def. Vladyslav Parubchenkno via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chris Gonzalez def. Vladimir Tokov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Lucas Brennan def. Will Smith via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:14
