Alexis Dufresne is surprisingly realistic about her position in Bellator’s women’s featherweight division after pulling off the biggest victory of her career with an upset of Marloes Coenen at Bellator 155 earlier this month.

Dufresne (6-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) stepped in as an injury replacement for Julia Budd (8-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) in a fight meant to decide Bellator’s inaugural women’s 145-pound champion. Once Budd pulled out, however, the promotion changed the fight with Coenen (23-7 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) to a non-title affair.

The call to fight Coenen came with just two weeks to prepare after Dufresne had taken a 16-month layoff from the sport to give birth. Dufresne was five pounds overweight for the fight, which ruffled the feathers of her opponent. But she secured the triangle-armbar victory to join Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino and Miesha Tate as one of the few fighters to beat Coenen, a former Strikeforce champion, since 2009.

Although it was a career-altering win, Dufresne said she knows that missing weight took away some of the luster. What she doesn’t agree with, however, is that her additional weight aided her in the fight. She said she’s insulted by anyone who insinuates it did.

“I was a little over 174 pounds when Bellator called me (to take the fight),” Dufresne told MMAjunkie. “With my body not even being used to cutting anymore, it was quite a challenge getting down. I worked my ass off, I came up a little short, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t 10 pounds over weight, but I hear people making comments that it was the reason I won the fight. I mean, come on. Five pounds it not the reason I won the fight. If anything she was in better shape than me, and I won the fight off my back when the weight wasn’t on her.”

Dufresne said she understands being a target of criticism for missing weight. What didn’t sit well with her, though, she said, was the way Coenen conducted herself from weigh-ins to post-fight. Dufresne said she granted Coenen a favor by stepping in to fight on short notice and didn’t feel any gratitude in return.

“What everybody has to understand is I took this fight in two weeks’ notice so Marloes would have a fight,” Dufresne said. “She was somebody that I respected. I know how it feels to have opponents back out at the last minute after having a full training camp. I knew she had been training for a five-round fight, putting in a lot of work. I wasn’t afraid to back down from a fight.

“I hadn’t fought in over a year. I just had a baby. I got handed probably one of the toughest opponents I could have been handed. (She) was pretty disrespectful at the weigh-ins. I’m not a big fan of people who disrespect others like that. The entire time I maintained my cool. Even after the fight I tried to shake hands and help her up, but she was disrespectful, so there’s not much you can say about somebody like that. There’s no reason for her to act the way she did, disrespect me the way she did. Call me a stepping stone. She talked like I was just going to be a joke that she was going to walk right through. But one of my favorite things to do is prove people wrong.”

Dufresne, 25, certainly proved her doubters – and the oddsmakers – wrong. Despite being pegged as high as a 7-1 underdog, Dufresne wasted no time securing a first-round submission win. She said the result was no fluke and that she’s more than willing to book a rematch in order to prove it.

“I would love a rematch,” Dufresne said. “If people want me to have a rematch with her and make (145 pounds), that’s totally fine. As far as my fighting capability, I think I proved everybody wrong. I showed people what I’m capable of doing on two weeks’ notice after having a baby. I’m ready to show what I’m capable of on a full camp.”

If Dufresne had matchmaking authority, though, she said she wouldn’t book a Coenen rematch. Instead, she would reschedule the matchup between Coenen and Budd for Bellator’s inaugural 145-pound title. Despite the fact Coenen lost decisively to her, she said the legendary female fighter still deserves to compete for a belt.

“I thought the title fight would maybe be her and Julia Budd again since I didn’t make weight, and if that’s what they want to do that’s fine, I understand, and I’ll take another fight and beat that person,” Dufresne said. “I’ll show them I can make the weight. I don’t feel self-entitled to the championship belt yet. I’ve only fought once. If they feel I need to prove I have to make that weight I understand, and I’ll do a fight or two and prove I belong there.”

Dufresne even has her next opponent in mind if it’s not Coenen. She wants to fight Arlene Blencowe (7-5 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), who she was supposed to fight her Bellator debut more than one year ago before Dufresne took a hiatus.

“I did do my best, and I do feel I need to prove to fight fans I can make the weight before I can get that championship belt,” Dufresne said. “What would be the fair thing to do is let Julia and Marloes fight for the title and get me another fight. I want to fight Blencowe. I was supposed to fight her in my Bellator debut before I got pregnant. Nothing personal against her; it’s just unfinished business. I’d never pulled out of a fight, and that was the first. I definitely want that fight next.”

For additional coverage of Bellator 155, check out the MMA Events section of the site.