Alejandra Lara thought she did enough.
The former Bellator women’s title challenger disagrees with the judging in her split decision loss to Diana Avsaragova this past Saturday at Bellator 290. Lara (9-7 MMA, 3-6 BMMA) thinks she clearly won the second and third rounds of their fight and should’ve been awarded the victory.
“When the fight finished, I was super confident I had beaten her,” Lara told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I know that Diana herself was surprised when they gave her the win. But it’s not her fault, that’s on the (judges).”
With the defeat, Lara now finds herself on a four-fight losing skid. Despite the circumstances, Lara is content because she thinks she was able to showcase improvement – something she was searching for with a change in teams prior to Bellator 290.
“The truth is that I’m very satisfied because I did the fight that I wanted to do,” Lara said. “I feel like I fixed the mistakes that I wanted to fix and work on. Maybe I did enter a little cold because I made a few mistakes that cost me the first round. But going into the second, I knew what I had to do, and I fought well – but oh well.
“I was also with a new team, people that don’t know me that well, and that didn’t help me do certain things. … I know I could’ve done it better, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m going to have another opportunity. The most important thing was showing my development and having that skill advancement. I feel like that was shown.”
Lara is not opposed to a rematch against Avsaragova, but it’s not something she will actively look for. The Colombian fighter also said she fought out her contract with the promotion at Bellator 290.
“I’m waiting to see what they say,” Lara said. “It’s interesting, and we’ll see. The first step is speaking with Bellator and then seeing what options we have.”
