Alexis Dufresne talks restarting career in Bellator: ‘I was quite immature’ during my UFC run

Sometimes you get an opportunity too big to turn down. That may be the case for Alexis Dufresne as the former UFC bantamweight steps up on little more than two week’s notice to face one of the best and most notable woman fighters in MMA, Marloes Coenen.

Dufresne has been sidelined for almost a year and a half, since her last fight, a unanimous decision loss to Marion Reneau at UFC 182. In that time she’s become a mother and, to put it in her own words, “I grew up.” Now, she’s taking the biggest fight of her career at Bellator 155, this Friday, May 20th. Dufresne will replace Julia Budd in a women’s featherweight bout as the first fight back ton the path to restarting her career.

Dufresne sat down with Bloody Elbow to talk about the fight and her time in the UFC:

“Of course not,” Dufresne said, brushing off the suggestion that she might have second guessed taking a fight against Coenen on short notice. “You know, we’re fighters. Never been a big fan of people that pick and choose fights that they know they’re gonna win. So, I’m just excited for the opportunity to fight such a big name.”

“I know it’s going to be a war,” Dufresne continued. “I’m gonna stick to my gameplan. I’m a grappler, so I’m gonna try to, of course, put the fight on the ground and put her in my world. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of her punches and kicks, so I’m gonna try to put her on her back.

And with a new fight in front of her, Alexis Dufresne seems very willing to look back at just what went wrong during her brief stay in the UFC. Not only may the move have been too much too soon, but it seems as though outside circumstances really didn’t help much either.

“My UFC debut, I believe I was …

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