The headline fight for Bellator 189 will be the women’s featherweight title fight where current featherweight champion, Julia Budd, will be faced with the challenge that contender, Arlene Blencowe, will throw at her.
Apart from Cris Cyborg who fights in the UFC, these two women who will headline Bellator 189 are widely renowned as two of the best fighters in the weight division. The pair have come up against each other, and this can be thought of almost as a rematch. Their last encounter ended with Julia Budd clinching the victory in a closely competed fight that ended in a difficult to make unanimous decision after three rounds. Julia Budd will either put the doubters to rest with a second victory against Blencowe, or Blencowe will show what she is made of.
In terms of recent form, Julia Budd is really soaring high and is on a 8 – fight winning streak. This has also included defeating the likes of strong competitors such as Charmaine Tweet and Gabby Holloway who are both amongst the top ten rankings in the featherweight division.
Budd is now 34 years old and won the title in March after she took out MarloesCoenen. Blencowe gets her chance to dethrone Budd. Currently sitting ranked third in the division, the Australian is in pretty good form herself with four wins out of her last fight, and the sole defeat coming against Budd herself which was quite a close call and a well – matched contest. Blencowe even picked up dominant first round victories against the likes of Janay Harding and Rhiannon Thompson.
In terms of prediction – we are going to have to side with Julia Budd here, but not by much. The more experienced fighter has what it takes to come out on top, again.
Author : Rory McGregor
