Bruna Ellen picked up a split decision victory on the main card of Friday’s Bellator 182 in Verona, New York. The close bout saw opponent Veta Arteaga open strong, but Ellen bounced back and did enough to earn the W on two of three judge’s scorecards.
The win marked Ellen’s second straight under the Bellator MMA banner. With the flyweight division just getting started in the promotion, that leads to all sorts of talk of ‘what’s next?’ – so what does Ellen have planned for the future? Ellen addressed that question and more after her win Friday, where Cageside Press was present to get Ellen’s thoughts.
“I’m going to take it fight by fight. I still have a lot to learn in order to get better” she said following the fight (via translator). “I have a bright future ahead of me and I’m going to take my time and do it right.”
When it came to Arteaga, who was a game opponent that had the edge on the feet early, was anything unexpected? “We knew she was a very tough opponent, that she’d bring the fight, that she was going to go forward. It went my way, so perfect.”
Was the split decision any surprise for Ellen? “Yea, I won two rounds, she won one round. I thought it would be not by decision. But it’s all good, I won.”
In Friday’s fight Ellen seemed to get off to a slow start, then loosen up as the fight progressed. Noticeably, her striking seemed to improve as the fight wore on. When asked whether she felt any increased confidence on the feet helped her loosen up, she replied that “I like what I do. Through the fight, I’m going to loosen up” and later added that “each fight, I’m going to get looser and better. It’s good for me, I love what I do.”
Having improved to 4-1 as a professional with Friday’s win, Ellen will be a fighter to watch at 125lbs moving forward.
You can check out the full post-fight interview with Bruna Ellen below.
