Veta Arteaga, for one, is very happy to find herself situated on the Bellator 250 main card this Thursday.
Just three fights comprise that main card, something of a curiosity for the promotion. Especially given names like Jake Hager and Bobby Voelker appear on the preliminary portion of the show. But it’s Arteaga vs. Desiree Yanez getting the spotlight, showing once again that Bellator is serious when it comes to promoting its women’s flyweight division.
“I’m honored to be on the main card,” Arteaga said during the Bellator 250 media day this week. She’s very aware of the depth of the event, but noted that herself and “Dirty Dez” are the “only girl fight too.”
The fight means a lot, period, to the former title challenger. Arteaga gave champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane a heck of a fight last year. Still, she came up short. She then dropped a second bout to Alejandra Lara.
“I’m coming off of a loss. So I’m definitely hungry and driven and excited for this fight,” said Arteaga. “I definitely worked hard. I had the best camp yet. I’ve improved in so many different areas. So I know what I’ve got to do on October 29 to get my hand raised. So I’m really looking forward to Thursday.”
Coming off those losses, “I just picked up the pieces,” Arteaga added. She turned her focus to what she could have done better in those two bouts, saying that she’s “worked hard in every area as far as on my weaknesses and all my strengths.”
Staring down the barrel at the dreaded 0-3, however, does not mean Arteaga believes she’s in a make or break situation. “Not at all. I feel like it only comes up for here,” she said when asked about that possibility. Despite her back appearing to be against the wall to the casual observer, the Idaho-based fighter said “this is where I’m supposed to be. This is where I belong. I deserve to be at the top with all the other girls in this division. I don’t feel like it’s make or break. I know I deserve to be here.”
And here, believes Arteaga, is in the best flyweight division in the sport. Asked exactly that, Arteaga said she did believe Bellator’s women’s 125lb weight class was the best in the business. “Yes, I do. I feel like we have a lot of good flyweight female fighters,” she stated.
Watch the full Bellator 250 virtual media day press scrum with Veta Arteaga above.
