Emily Ducote didn't think Bellator title shot would come this soon, but ready to take advantage

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Of the two fighters in Bellator’s inaugural women’s flyweight title fight Friday, Emily Ducote could have predicted who one would be.

But it sounds like she didn’t expect the second one would be her.

Ducote (6-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) meets Ilima Macfarlane (6-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) in a rematch for Bellator’s first women’s flyweight belt in the Bellator 186 co-main event at Bryce Jordan Center on Penn State’s campus in University Park, Pa. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

The two just fought in December 2016 at Bellator 167, where Macfarlane won a unanimous decision.

“(It was) a little surprising, just at the timing,” Ducote today told MMAjunkie of getting the call to fight for the belt so soon after their first meeting. “I knew it would eventually happen, the rematch, but I wasn’t really expecting this timing. But it’s happening, and I’m excited.

“I knew she’d be fighting for the title. She’s been doing really well, and I knew she’d be fighting for it. I just didn’t know against who. We got the phone call, got the question, and of course we accepted. The rematch is going to be awesome. She’s obviously a high-level athete, so we’re excited for it.”

Ducote said 11 months was enough time for her to up her game. The loss to Macfarlane snapped a four-fight winning streak, including consecutive submissions for Bellator. But since then, she has a submission win over Katy Collins at Bellator 174, and in July she outpointed Jessica Middleton at Bellator 181.

The Middleton fight was supposed to be a bout against new Bellator signee Valerie Letourneau, who had just come over from the UFC. But a Letourneau injury took her off the card, and Ducote had to deal with the opponent switch on short notice.

But maybe that challenge was enough to give her some increased signs of improvement, as well.

“(The first fight with Macfarlane was) exactly 11 months ago, which is kind of cool to show the improvement I’ve made over almost a year – most of it mental, just kind of realizing the level I’m on,” Ducote said. “Before the last fight (against Macfarlane), I just didn’t know. I had never fought anybody that made me question what level I was on. Now I know this is my level. I’m on this level and I deserve to be (fighting for the title) in this division.”

Ducote believes Macfarlane will have improved in the meantime, as well. The California-based Hawaiian has had just one fight since then, also against Middleton – and Macfarlane submitted her.

And the win over Ducote the first time around no doubt has helped make Macfarlane a 3-1 favorite with the oddsmakers. But Ducote is trying to ignore all that and simply focus up on the task at hand – knowing a belt is on the line.

“I’m positive she’s improved, as well,” she said. “It’s been 11 months for me, but it’s been 11 months for her, as well. I’m sure we’ve both improved.

“She beat me, so of course I’m going to be the underdog – and I don’t mind. I really don’t mind it at all. … She’s been doing well. Can she be stopped? We’ll find out on Friday. I think it’s going to be a better version of the first fight.”

For more from Ducote, check out the video above.

And for more on Bellator 186, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.