Julia Budd left her mark inside the Bellator cage.
The current Professional Fighters League (PFL) Featherweight contender spent six years in Bellator, where she made history as the promotion’s first women’s champion at 145 pounds. Budd did essentially all she could in Bellator, defeating all comers and defending her title three times before met with Cris “Cyborg” Justino in January 2020.
Canada’s Budd, 40, made her PFL debut in October 2021 and has fought four times since. She won’t continue forever, though. In recent months, rumors have escalated heavily around the future of Bellator, leading many to believe PFL will likely absorb it. For the Featherweight legend, Budd can’t help but stick around for one more year despite having been there and done that in mixed martial arts (MMA).
“Not long,” Budd told MMA Mania of her time left in MMA. “Obviously, god-willing, I feel great, but I really wanted this fight to happen before I retired. I think that it should have happened right when I came to PFL. This is the fight that should have happened and I want to fight for next year. I’m hoping to be in the season then hang up the gloves after that.
“At the same time, things change, and all I know is I’m 100 percent going into this fight and this is one of the fights I want before the end of my career,” she added. “I want to make sure I fought everybody, all the challenges, that’s just been my story.
“I think it would be so fun and that’s kind of what I’m imagining in my mind,” Budd concluded about Bellator. “Some of the fights that I didn’t get to fight in Bellator, I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is gonna be awesome.’ Super excited about [it]. That’s where I’m at right now (laughs).”
When the former champion, Budd, made her leap between promotions, the obvious match up to make was with the former two-time Lightweight champion, Kayla Harrison. No longer undefeated after her title tilt opposite Larissa Pacheco (watch highlights) last year (Nov. 25, 2022), Harrison will look to rebound against Budd at the 2023 PFL Championship in Washington D.C. on Nov. 25, 2023.
“The Jewel” is just happy the fight is happening at all as they were originally booked for July 2022.
“Overall feelings, I’m super excited,” Budd said. “I’m focused on obviously me, improving, being dangerous everywhere. I think that she’s had her loss last year, it was a close fight, but I think that could have lit a new fire underneath her and she could — I don’t know how it’s affected her. I don’t really know her at all, but you know what I mean.
“She was 15-0 before that and I look forward to testing my skills against her strengths and her weaknesses,” she concluded.
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