Since becoming Bellator’s Women’s Featherweight Champion, Julia Budd has ran roughshod in her division.

Due to her success and dominance as champion, recently solidifying her place as MMA’s No.2 female featherweight, comes the age old question MMA experts ask whenever a fighter like Budd goes through her division like she’s looking for that certain pair of lingerie in her drawer:

What’s next?

And after Budd completely assaulted Talita Nogueira via 3rd round TKO in their Bellator 202 matchup which was her most impressive performance by far, we now have to ask that question.

Thing is Budd actually has a division built around around her with depth, unlike the No.1 Female Featherweight Cris Cyborg. There’s now suddenly a real interest in making a Budd vs. Cyborg bout.

It’s kinda ironic this idea is being thought of, being that both women fought in Strikeforce for years but never got the chance to face each other, there were even some rumored notions on Budd’s end that she never wanted to face Cyborg to begin with, which is pretty much the case with any female fighter at 145 who gets on a hot streak and knows eventually they’ll have to face Cris Cyborg but never does.

Budd spoke with FanSided about the absurdness in thinking that way:

“I SEEN STUFF SAYING THAT I’M RUNNING FROM HER AND THAT’S WHY I SIGNED WITH BELLATOR. GIVE ME A BREAK. WHAT WE LIVE FOR AS MARTIAL ARTISTS IS CHALLENGING OURSELVES AND I’VE FACED ALL THE BEST FEATHERWEIGHTS IN THE WORLD, EXCEPT FOR HER, SO THAT CHALLENGE IS SOMETHING OUR TEAM [HAS TALKED ABOUT].

“IT’S INTERESTING BECAUSE WHEN I WAS FIRST LOOKING TO MAKE MY MMA DEBUT, THAT IS WHO I GOT OFFERED WITH STRIKEFORCE. BEFORE I HAD EVEN BEEN ON THE MATS GRAPPLING OR WRESTLING, THEY WERE LIKE, ‘YOU WANT TO COME OVER? YOU’RE FIGHTING CRIS CYBORG’ AND I HADN’T EVEN MADE THE TRANSITION FROM MUAY THAI INTO MMA.”

“[I’VE] SEEN STUFF SAYING THAT I’M RUNNING FROM HER AND THAT’S WHY I SIGNED WITH BELLATOR. GIVE ME A BREAK. I DIDN’T RUN FROM YOU; I’M JUST NOT GOING TO FIGHT YOU ON A WEEK’S NOTICE OR AS MY FIRST FIGHT BEFORE I’D EVEN GOTTEN MY FEET WET IN THE SPORT WHEN YOU’VE BEEN KILLING PEOPLE.

“I WAS SUPPOSED TO FIGHT FIONA MUXLOW ON THE PRELIMS AND SHE WAS HEADLINING THE SHOW AND AS THE FIGHT GOT CLOSER, EDIANE GOMES PULLED OUT OF THE FIGHT WITH CYBORG [AT INVICTA FC 5]. I GOT A CALL FROM INVICTA SAYING, ‘WE’RE TAKING YOUR OPPONENT AND GIVING HER TO CRIS OR YOU CAN FIGHT HER’ AND IT WAS TWO-AND-A-HALF WEEKS BEFORE THE FIGHT AND WE WERE LIKE, ‘NO; THAT MAKES NO SENSE. WE’RE NOT FIGHTING HER IN TWO WEEKS WITH ZERO PROMOTION.’ IT WASN’T A SMART CAREER MOVE TO DO THAT IN THAT SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME.”

If there is indeed real interest of getting this fight done, now may be the perfect time, especially with Cyborg’s frustration with the UFC as of late, it could happen sooner or later, who knows?

“THEN, OF COURSE, WORD GETS AROUND THAT I SAID I’M NOT FIGHTING CRIS CYBORG AND YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES,” BUDD CONTINUED, “THEY GAVE HER MY OPPONENT AND WE WERE KIND OF PISSED OFF ABOUT THAT AND I HAD ONE MORE FIGHT WITH THEM AND THEN WE GOT AN AMAZING OFFER FROM BELLATOR.

NOW I’VE HAD 14 MMA FIGHTS AND I’VE ESTABLISHED MYSELF, SO I’M HERE; I’M NOT RUNNING FROM ANYONE.”

Do you think we’ll get to Julia Budd and Cris Cyborg finally face each other in Bellator?