Stepping in on short notice, Marion “The Belizean Bruiser” Reneau made a big statement in her Octagon debut tonight at UFC 182: “Jones vs Cormier” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Reneau battered and bloodied an overweight Alexis “Sneaky Zebra” Dufresne in what was intended to be a bantamweight bout.
Dufresne missed weight for the second straight time in her UFC career and she was a step behind Reneau throughout tonight’s one-sided fight. Reneau showcased her formidable standup skills in all three rounds of the fight en route to one of the most dominant decision wins in recent UFC history.
Reneau (5-1-0) set the tone early on with quick punches to the body and head that kept a much slower Dufresne (5-2-0) guessing. She stuffed a takedown and landed a combination that bloodied Dufresne’s nose. Reneau mixed things up with leg kicks as the round progressed and she rocked Dufresne with a big flurry. Dufresne stayed on her feet and weathered a storm of knees to the body, but she was unable to mount any offence in return. Reneau closed out the round with more punches and knees.
The second round began with Reneau stuffing another takedown and she countered Dufresne’s leg kicks with hard right hands. More punches and a knee to the body scored for Reneau, which forced Dufresne to pull half-guard. Reneau immediately stood back up and Dufresne was forced to follow. Her head was snapped back by Reneau’s crisp punches in the final minute and Reneau hurt her again with punches and knees before the bell.
Though she was clearly well ahead on the scorecards, Reneau did not let up at all in round three. She punished Dufresne with leg kicks and combinations that backed Dufresne up on multiple occasions. Reneau stunned Dufresne with right hooks and she easily avoided a sloppy takedown attempt. She battered Dufresne’s already damaged face with stiff jabs and power punches that rocked Dufresne late in the fight, but she narrowly survived until time expired.
The judges’ scorecards were a mere formality and Reneau took home the victory with a trio of lopsided tallies. Reneau, who was originally slated to face Mexican knockout artist Irene Aldana this past month at Invicta FC 10 before Aldana withdrew due to an illness, announced herself as a potential contender down the line with tonight’s extremely impressive performance.
Winner: Marion Reneau by Unanimous Decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26) after three rounds. She improves to 5-1-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
My comment…Dufresne needs to grow a brain.
And there goes one overrated fighter… Missing weight for the second time and being beat like this = cut from the UFC.
Dufrense basically got a contract after a fight she horribly missed weight in. I guarantee you her training camps consisted of her trying hard to make weight. She looked horrible at both weigh ins & I knew she would perform terribly. The ufc is basically at fault when have they ever signed a fighter who missed weight prior. Didn’t she come in at 160 for a 140 catch weight vs Kim couture or was that over exaggerated. She obviously can’t make 135 & was killing herself trying to make weight. Her getting cut will be the best thing for her she can fight at 145 or even 155 her natural weights. In my opinion she had no business trying to move to 135 anyway. I still think she has a lot of potential even though she looked like even peggy morgan could whoop her easily in her las fight. But I think her performances had more to do with the weight cut than her actual ability but I could be wrong.
Bill, she had zero technique standing up. The weight cut clearly hurt her, but it was not only the fatigue, but, also, how she was throwing punches and how she was defending herself.
On a side note, Marion is quite likeable and seems to have a bright future ahead of her. Would love to see her vs Valerie LeTorneau next… or even Bethe Correia.
Correia will destroy her
I don’t know how that girl can have a ‘future’ if she is pushing 38 now…maybe…just maybe she is another Charmaine Tweet but I doubt it. She looked great against a fighter that should be fighting bush league amateurs…that’s all.
Bill, Dufrense was not 160 for the Couture fight. It is also not UFC’s fault when Alexis begged for another chance to make 135 even though she knew she couldn’t make it. She should have known better. Alexis is another example of the fighters who don’t want any part of the all but dead 145 class. Now she will be cut.
Fights like this are what soured Dana White on WMMA. The lack of depth. Just look at how bad it is outside of 115. 135 is just starting to get some decent depth, but we are still weeding out the Dufrenses, Dukes, Morgans, Gaffs, and Sextons. It will take about 3 years and now you see why UFC is backing Invicta.
I expect Aldana to be added soon. Another prospect fight with Pacheco makes sense.
Rosi was just too small for the division… same as Gaff.
But, yeah, Dufresne, Morgan, Duke AND Baszler have no business fighting for the UFC.
I didn’t know Marion was 38. Cool that she started at a not so young age and is doing so well!
Age doesnt really matter because there are few great fighters in wmma right now. Nakamoto is the same age and would have been a UFC title contender if she wasn’t hurt. If you have “it” than you can run through a lot of fighters. Reneau might have it. We might be lucky she didn’t derail Aldana.
I know Gaff and Sexton are 125ers, but Andrade is also small and adapted. Neither did anything at 125 after getting cut. Gaff has zero fight IQ and was badly overrated. Sexton thankfully retired for her own health. That was what I meant by weeding out the people who belong. WMMA is like the wild west. But slowly we are now getting an accurate ranking of 135 thanks to UFC. Soon we will get one for 115. Thanks to Invicta, the other divisions will follow. But it will take years given the lack of depth.
Disagree about Duke. She didn’t get clobbered by Correia by any stretch…and now Correia wants to fight for the belt. Can’t put Jessamyn in that group. Holds the UFC record for most significant strikes in a UFC debut …not the Belizian Bruiser. Snapped the two BIG bones in her hand on Leslies brick head and now she sucks?? I don’t agree. Sure Peggy Morgan needs to avoid bantamweight at all costs and Shayna’s best days are surely behind her. The sport has passed her by but Duke broke that record against Peggy at the Tuf 18 finale…and there is no way that Peggy Morgan looked nearly as bad as Dufresne did against the Bruiser. That was by far the worst showing in WMMA in any promotion that I have ever seen.
The jury is still out IMO on Reneau’s it factor. Leslie Smith, Sarah Kaufman,Rocky Pennington, Jessica Andrade would have all put that sneaky zebra out of her misery before the final bell. Reneau may have just as well been hitting the heavy bag at the gym. No difference. Let’s wait and see her fight anybody else for that matter.
And on another note…Jessics Eye is at it again cashing checks with her mouth that her fists can’t cover…she stated at an interview she thinks she can whoop Holly’s ass standing…she is a better boxer than Holly Holm. Confidence will get you fights then get you laid out cold in the Octagon. She forgets sometimes…no, she forgets alot…Holly’s main weapon now is not her hands…its her feet.
Bethe Correia destroyed Duke standing up, even though Duke had a HUGE reach advantage. IIRC, Correia landed twice as many strikes, and her leg and face were very bruised after the fight.
The problem with Duke, Mike, is she doesn’t train MUAY THAI anymore. Edmond has transformed her into a boxer.
On her UFC page, she says “I train under Edmond Tarverdyan at Glendale Fight Club, where Ronda Rousey trains. My focus since moving has been boxing, wrestling, and 10th Planet Jiu-jitsu”.
Unbelievable, eh?
She also says her favourite striking technique is her left hook: “(…) I’ve recently developed a strong affinity for my left hook and I believe I can knock out anyone in the division with it if I land it solidly”.
You can see why she’s quickly deteriorating as a fighter, and is basically becoming a boxer.
Well, Rafael…we will see what the future holds but until then…we agree to disagree. Ronda destroys. 10-8 is a round noteworthy of destruction. Reneau destroyed Dufresne. Correia has destroyed no one…And as the great and invincible Conor Mac would say…muay tai is for losers.
The issue that is difficult to debate is this. If you have studied one discipline the majority of your life, isn’t it wise to branch off and study other forms of martial arts. Ronda has not trained Judo in two years. Does that mean she forgot how to throw people. Jessamyn used judo throws against Correia. Her scores were no worse and no better than any of Correias other opponents she beat by decision.
My concern with Jess is that she is too tall to stay at 135. She can’t pack on any much needed muscle to protect her frame. I don’t know if you guys saw the x-rays of the two breaks in her hand but that shit was horrifying. Not just fractures…clean snaps. I honestly think that if the injury had not occured she might have done quite well against Leslie…and I also believe that if Leslie had not had her ear torn off she would have given Eye a hard time in the third round.
Before I get all kinds of flak let me clarify what I meant by the Conor Mac statement. Conor stated that Muay Thai fighters tend to stand directly in front of opponents and get picked off by intelligent boxers such as himself. Boxers create angles. T J Dillashaw used superior boxing to beat Renan Barao. And when you mix hand strikes with elusive angles and devestating kicks you have the Conor Macs…the Holly Holms…the T J Dillashaws. But those guys can’t forget that a superior ground and clinch game trumps all.
I train boxing and muay thai. I love boxing much more. No comparison. But muay thai fighters stand directly in front of your opponents because, if you are standing from your shoulders and creating angles, as boxers do, it’s far easier to get caught by a muay thai kick (it requires hip rotation).
Boxing creates more angles for punches, but muay thai uses more angles in general (remember they use elbows, knees, kicks and punches).
In many ways, boxing’s less suited for MMA. Hooks, for example, bring you closer to the knees of your opponent. So, in MMA, hooks are more dangerous (boxers never learn how to protect from their waist down).
Boxing is more technical, faster, and more dynamic than muay thai, IMO. I love boxing much more. But, in a fight between a boxer and a muay thai fighter, I think (I think) I’d favour the later.
Just my two cents…
I agree with you on that last statement…a muay thai fighter would assuredly win…why…more weapons.
hey, rafael…did you see…Andrade vs Reneau on the 22nd of February. I gotta go with Andrade on this one…she is too tough, too aggressive for Reneau IMO.
Just listened to Jessica Eye on MMA Roasted. Definitely one overconfident individual…trying to convince herself that Leslie Smith was broken mentally when her ear got torn. I have a big problem with fighters that blow their own whistle and have mediocre skills…like Pena and Eye. Ronda and Conor can back up everything they claim but some people would be served better by keeping their mouths dhut until they get a couple of decisive wins.
I dont blame any fighter for talking. That is how you create interest in yourself. Eye has to sell herself. WMMA needs more personalities. UFC rewards fighters that can promote themselves. You have two ways to promote yourself. You can knock heads off like Holly Holm and create hype for your UFC career, or talk your way into a fanbase like many of the TUF 20ers did.
Quiet and boring fighters get forgotten.
Speaking of which, Sarah Kaufman just called out Bethe. That is what these fighters have to do. Use the platform UFC gets from the MMA media and create fights.
Let’s see… I do think Eye is skilled. I love Leslie Smith. Love her. Prefer her to Eye. Love her fighting style, and how she is always game. But Eye was a more technical striker and had a clear edge in speed. Eye is very athletic. She debuted as a bantamweight having a very close fight against Kaufmann, arguably one of the top 5 bantamweights. And she was muscling Kaufman around in the clinch. She’s one strong individual.
I think Eye would defeat Miesha Tate or Bethe Correia, and would give trouble anyone in the division.
Kaufman vs Bethe would be GREAT. I think Sarah will take it, but it will be a great and close fight.
Hey, Rob… I guess your site is needing a forum. Hehe.
BTW, I see Kaufman winning, because she’s a more technical striker, IMO.
The problem with Eye is that she never names names!! She never calls anyone out. She has been asked several times be several interviewers who she would like to fight and she always gives the same response…whatever the boss wants…All that is doing is showing me how stupid you really are. She badmouths Leslie…then says she will not give her a rematch because she “broke her”… a legend in her own mind.
Bottom line…I don’t know if everyone is injured but I want to see at least 2 womens fights on every other UFC card. Is that too much to ask???