Alexis “Sneaky Zebra” Dufresne missed weight for the fourth straight time, but picked up the biggest victory of her career tonight at Bellator 155: “Carvalho vs Manhoef” in Boise, Idaho. Dufresne submitted MMA pioneer Marloes “Rumina” Coenen with an impressive first-round triangle armbar.
Tonight’s card was initially slated to feature a featherweight title fight between Coenen and Julia “The Jewel” Budd, but Dufresne stepped in on short notice when Budd sustained an injury. She weighed in five pounds heavy, but handed Coenen the second submission defeat of her career.
Dufresne (6-2-0) immediately took Coenen (23-7-0) down in the opening seconds of tonight’s makeshift 150-pound catchweight contest. The fighters battled back and forth for top position on the ground and Coenen attempted a pair of guillotine chokes. She used one to sweep into Dufresne’s guard, but Dufresne tied her up from the bottom and attacked with submission attempts. She trapped Coenen in a triangle choke, then wrenched back on her right arm. With her elbow bent back at an awkward angle, a shocked and dejected Coenen was forced to submit at the 4:33 mark.
While the victory was a huge one for Dufresne, who was competing for the first time since the birth of her child, her fourth consecutive failure to make weight was made worse by post-fight comments in which she complained about “disrespect” from Coenen at the weigh-ins. Coenen accepted the fight in spite of Dufresne’s failure to come close to making the 145-pound limit. In light of tonight’s outcome, future plans for the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight title fight are now uncertain.
Winner: Alexis Dufresne by Submission (Triangle Armbar) at 4:33 of round one. She improves to 6-2-0.
(Photo Credit: Bellator)
This fight should have no bearing on the previously planned title fight – it should still Coenen vs. Budd for the 145lb title and then — perhaps — offer the first defense to Dufresne. This way Dufresne has to make weight or she doesn’t fight for the title.
This would also reward Coenen — an WMMA legend — for going ahead with the Dufresne fight last night despite the missed weight and also give Marloes the possibility of a rematch against Dufresne, and with the title on the line.