Undefeated women’s featherweight prospect Talita Nogueira has inked an exclusive deal to join the Bellator fold, promotion officials announced on Thursday.
Nogueira (6-0), the 2013 Female Fighter of the Year at the Brazilian MMA Awards, was in discussions to join to the UFC in July but ultimately opted to sign with Bellator, bolstering the Viacom-led promotion’s newfound commitment to women’s MMA following moves to sign Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd under new president Scott Coker.
“Joining Bellator is like a dream come true,” Nogueira said in a statement. “Since I began my MMA career I wanted to compete in a promotion like Bellator so I want to thank Scott and Rich (Chou) for bringing back women’s MMA to Bellator and I promise I will train harder than anyone to put on entertaining fights for Bellator.”
A decorated jiu-jitsu black belt, Nogueira has finished all six of her opponents inside the first two rounds since turning pro in 2009. The 28-year-old submitted Michelle Oliveira via first-round arm-triangle choke in her most recent outing last December.
“We are always excited when we can bring in a talent like Talita to the organization,” said Coker. “This is just the beginning for women’s MMA here at Bellator. We want to make a very serious commitment to this division, and this is just the start.”
Undefeated women’s featherweight prospect Talita Nogueira has inked an exclusive deal to join the Bellator fold, promotion officials announced on Thursday.
Nogueira (6-0), the 2013 Female Fighter of the Year at the Brazilian MMA Awards, was in discussions to join to the UFC in July but ultimately opted to sign with Bellator, bolstering the Viacom-led promotion’s newfound commitment to women’s MMA following moves to sign Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd under new president Scott Coker.
“Joining Bellator is like a dream come true,” Nogueira said in a statement. “Since I began my MMA career I wanted to compete in a promotion like Bellator so I want to thank Scott and Rich (Chou) for bringing back women’s MMA to Bellator and I promise I will train harder than anyone to put on entertaining fights for Bellator.”
A decorated jiu-jitsu black belt, Nogueira has finished all six of her opponents inside the first two rounds since turning pro in 2009. The 28-year-old submitted Michelle Oliveira via first-round arm-triangle choke in her most recent outing last December.
“We are always excited when we can bring in a talent like Talita to the organization,” said Coker. “This is just the beginning for women’s MMA here at Bellator. We want to make a very serious commitment to this division, and this is just the start.”
