Alexis Dufresne vs. Amanda Bell featherweight matchup booked for Bellator 181

A clash between hard-hitting featherweight prospects Alexis Dufresne (6-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and Amanda Bell (4-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has been added to Bellator’s return to Oklahoma this summer.

Dufresne and Bell meet at Bellator 181 on July 14 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The main card airs on Spike, and the prelims, including Dufresne vs. Bell, stream on MMAjunkie.

Bellator officials confirmed the fight booking with MMAjunkie on Tuesday.

After racking up five straight first-round finishes, Dufresne signed with the UFC in 2014, but she couldn’t make weight for either of her UFC bantamweight bouts and sought out a fresh start as a featherweight when she debuted for Bellator this past May. At Bellator 155, Dufresne scored the biggest victory of her career when she submitted MMA pioneer Marloes Coenen with a first-round triangle-armbar.

The Californian faced criticism once again for failing to make weight for the bout with Coenen, but the win nevertheless solidified Dufresne’s spot as one of the top female fighters on the Bellator roster. She now looks to rebound from the first stoppage loss of her career, a TKO defeat to Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 174 in March.

Invicta FC vet Bell has also battled through adversity ahead of her upcoming Bellator debut. The Oregon native suffered defeats in her first two pro bouts but bounced back in a big way with two finishes, including a brutal knockout victory over Marina Shafir that caught the eye of Invicta FC matchmakers, who re-signed Bell in 2015. Her second run with the promotion came to an end this past year after tough losses to Faith Van Duin and Megan Anderson, but a February victory over Holloway elevated Bell back into the featherweight top 10 and earned her a contract with Bellator.

An impressive win over Dufresne in July would place Bell on a short list of contenders for the Bellator women’s featherweight title, which is held by Julia Budd.

The latest Bellator 181 card now includes:

• Patricky Freire vs. Derek Campos
• Emily Ducote vs. Valerie Letourneau
• Steve Garcia vs. Joe Warren
• Andre Fialho vs. A.J. Matthews
• Kendall Grove vs. John Salter
• Amanda Bell vs. Alexis Dufresne

For more on Bellator 181, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

Robert Sargent is a veteran MMA journalist who runs MMARising.com.