It may have taken just a single Bellator showing to get to challenge for Julia Budd ’s featherweight belt, but Talita Nogueira ’s road this far was rougher than her record would suggest. Nogueira (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was signed to Bellator in 2014 , but only got to debut in 2017. Her original appointment was, incidentally, against now-champ Budd (11-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA). The two were scheduled to meet at Bellator 133, in 2015, but ACL and meniscus tears forced Nogueira out just days before she was supposed to travel. After recovering for close to one year, Nogueira got another solid booking, against veteran Marloes Coenen, at Bellator 163. Three months prior to signing the bout agreement, though, Nogueira’s mother died. Nogueira still wanted her Bellator debut badly enough to push forward, but had put on a lot more weight than usual in the emotionally challenging aftermath of the tough loss
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