INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Prior to Saturday night, Julia Budd was the only women’s featherweight champion Bellator has ever had.
When Budd (13-3 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) faced Cris Cyborg in the Bellator 238 headliner, however, that changed. Budd was defeated by strikes in the fourth round, making Cyborg (22-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) the second fighter to hold the promotion’s 145-pound title.
Despite the loss, Budd received credit for her toughness and gameness inside the cage. She hung tough with Cyborg into the championship rounds. However, there are no moral victories for Budd.
“No, not really,” Budd told MMA Junkie at the post-event news conference. “It doesn’t feel like it tonight. It’s not how I expected it to go down. I made some mistakes, and I plan on coming back stronger.”
“… There were things in my gameplan that didn’t go accordingly. I wasn’t supposed to have my back on the cage. That was a key part of this training camp. My training camp was amazing, so there’s no excuses on my part.”
Cyborg is one of the most notable and successful female fighters in MMA history. It’s likely more eyeballs were on this fight than any of Budd’s previous Bellator appearances. That said, Budd doesn’t think the magnitude of the moment led to her demise.
“I can’t blame it on that,” Budd said. “It was just not my night in there. She’s a warrior. She’s the champ for a reason. I’ll be back.”
Budd, 36, defended the belt three times after winning it in March 2017. Having had a string of consecutive title defenses, Budd isn’t ruling out the possibility of an immediate rematch against the Brazilian.
“It’s up to Bellator what they want to do, but yeah,” Budd said. “Pretty much. As soon as I got out of there, I was so upset. There are so many things I could have done better tonight.”
