UFC debutant Alexis Dufresne might just be the UFC's newest badass

Alexis Dufresne might be a little bit of an unknown to her potential opponents in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. So here’s a little advice for them all: Avoid pre-fight trash talk.

“I’m kind of fueled by hate,” Dufresne admitted to MMAjunkie. “I’ve hated every opponent I’ve had. For some reason they want to talk crap. That’s what gets me going. The more my opponent talks s–t to me, the happier I’m going to be when I get in the cage.

“I think it’s insecurity. I’m pretty secure in myself, and I’ve never gone around talking crap about my opponents. I let my fighting do the talking. I keep my mouth shut, I stay quiet, and I let my hands talk in the cage. I feel like people who talk a lot are the ones who don’t have anything to show.”

Dufresne has reason to be confident, as her entrance first to jiu-jitsu and then to MMA has been just about flawless. The 23-year-old Southern Californian began her journey just after high school, as she looked for something to supplement her first love of racing dirt bikes.

“I had ridden dirt bikes for quite a few years, and I kind of wanted to try something else to keep in shape,” Dufresne said. “So I went with one of my high school friends when I was 18 to Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to try it out, and I ended up falling in love with it, kind of making dirt bikes my second sport.”

It turned out, Dufresne was a natural.

“That’s basically my main thing,” Dufresne said. “I’ve won the worlds five times. I won Pan Ams four times, nationals a few times. Jiu-jitsu is kind of where I came from.”

With the success she achieved in the grappling world, Dufresne eventually elected to transition to MMA as a means of pressuring herself to become better as a martial artist. Once again, it was love at first strike.

“I kind of wanted to test my jiu-jitsu against MMA,” Dufresne said. “I never wanted to be the kind of person that just pulls guard and then gets punched in the face, so I wanted to kind of transition and make my jiu-jitsu effective for MMA. You know, if you get in a street fight or whatever, I need to be able to be on top and protect myself. Plus, I always like a challenge, so I thought it would be fun. I had done well with jiu-jitsu, so I thought I would give it a shot.

“I fell in love with MMA right away. I might be weird, but I kind of like getting punched in the face. Of course I like punching other people even more. It’s cool. I like it.”

To date, Dufresne has competed five times in the cage. All five fights ended in the first round. Three of them took 66 seconds or less. The first two wins came by submission before her team pressured her into testing out her striking on the floor, as well. The next three wins came by TKO.

“I finished my first two fights with quick submissions and got some crap from teammates, like ‘Can’t you do anything else?’” Dufresne said. “So I said, ‘Alright, it’s whatever,’ so I had to mix it up a little.”

Now training at Team Quest in Temecula, Calif. – home of MMA legend Dan Henderson – Dufresne (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is preparing for her UFC debut, which comes at July’s The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale against recent “TUF 18? semifinalist Sarah Moras (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC). It’s certainly a challenging first step into the octagon, but Dufresne believes she’s capable of making her way into the division.

“I don’t want a 30-second finish,” Dufresne said. “I want a battle. I’m fighting because I love the art of war. I love the art of battle. I love enduring it. I don’t go into the cage and wait for the time to finish. Win or lose it’s not about that to me. I love what I do so just being in the cage and fighting.

“Maybe it’s slight stupidity. I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve always had it. Even when I was riding dirt bikes, I have that competitive nature. I just want to win.”

How far that drive will carry Dufresne in the UFC remains to be seen, but it would seem opponents would be best off not pushing too far. Dufresne admits she might be a little off-center, but she doesn’t attempt to down the abilities of her opponents, either. She just looks forward to the opportunity to prove her skills on the sport’s biggest stage.

“I feel like right now it’s about proving myself,” Dufresne said. “I don’t want to stand there and say, ‘Oh, I can compete with the best. I can do this or that.’ I know that everyone else is putting in the time and working just as hard as I am, so I feel like it would be disrespectful to jump in there and think that I’m the best right away, but I’m definitely not going to stop until I do reach the top.

“I’m just going to fight my best and put on a show. Whatever happens, happens, but I’ll make sure it’s an entertaining fight.”

For the latest on The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.