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With each day that goes by, the chip on Julia Budd’s shoulder gets a little bigger.

Four months after dismantling Marloes Coenen to become the inaugural Bellator MMA women’s featherweight champion, the Port Moody resident remains on the sidelines, unsure of when her first title defence will take place, unaware of whom she will face and feeling like the promotion doesn’t have much of a plan for her or the division.

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“It’s frustrating. Me and Lance are pretty pissed off about it,” said Budd, who is coached by her husband, former UFC competitor Lance Gibson. “But at the same time I have two more fights with them, so it’s not like I can say, ‘Hey, see you later; I’m going to go fight somewhere else.’

“It’s frustrating, and also I don’t see them promoting the division either and that’s the other frustrating part. It’s not like they’re flying me into New York to do a bunch of media.”

Last month, Bellator MMA held the biggest event in the company’s history, rolling into Madison Square Garden in New York City with a fight card featuring many of the top talents on the roster and headlined by veteran stars Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva. The company brought in a host of former stars like Dan Henderson and Royce Gracie as well as other big names from the Bellator MMA roster, but a trip to the Big Apple and a front-row seat to watch the action wasn’t offered to the women’s featherweight champion.