Julia Budd retained her Bellator MMA women’s featherweight title with a vicious first-round stoppage of Olga Rubin at Bellator 224 on Friday night at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla.
Budd, who hasn’t lost a fight since being submitted by Ronda Rousey in 2011, started off by landing kicks to the body and head as she controlled the distance from the outside. Rubin was unable to close in and was systematically picked apart by Budd’s kickboxing.
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Although the 29-year-old Rubin entered this fight undefeated, she was in way over her head against one of the best female fighters in the world. Her inability to establish any offense eventually spelled her demise against Budd.
Midway through the opening frame, the 36-year-old champion cut loose a wicked body kick that immediately froze Rubin. With the challenger rendered defenseless, Budd stormed in and crushed Rubin (6-1) with a violent salvo of punches and knees until the bout was mercifully called to a halt at the 2:14 mark.
Budd (13-2) remains the only Bellator featherweight champion and has now won her last 11 fights. The only two defeats of her career came against Rousey and current UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes. Outside of those blemishes, Budd has been brilliant inside the cage.
With few featherweights around to fight, Budd used her postfight interview to lay down the gauntlet to RIZIN’s Gabi Garcia, the undefeated 6-2 giant. Garcia's last bout, against Barbara Nepomuceno on New Year's Eve, was fought at a catchweight of 226 pounds. The 145-pound Budd is up for the challenge despite the massive weight disparity.
"I'd love to fight in RIZIN against a big lady named Gabi Garcia," Budd said. "I want to make history."
Elsewhere on the card, Ed Ruth returned to his winning ways with a second-round stoppage of Kiichi Kunimoto in welterweight action when a knee caught his opponent clean.
Juliana Velasquez may have punched her ticket to a future title shot against flyweight champion Ilema-Lei Macfarlane when she polished off Kristina Williams with a second-round TKO.
Former middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho ended a two-fight losing streak by defeating Chidi Njokuani by unanimous decision. Although it was mostly a kickboxing affair, Carvalho's takedowns spelled the difference in this 190-pound catchweight bout.
