Promotion officials confirmed the pairing on Tuesday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 181 takes place at Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Okla., on July 14 and is headlined by a lightweight rematch between Patricky Freire and Derek Campos.
A two-time UFC veteran, Dufresne debuted in Bellator with a surprising first-round submission triumph over Marloes Coenen in May 2016. The 26-year-old Team Quest representative couldn’t continue that momentum in her most recent outing, as she suffered a second-round TKO defeat to Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 174.
Bell also faced Holloway in her last fight, but with a different result: a unanimous decision triumph at King of the Cage “Heavy Trauma” on Feb. 4. That ended a two-fight skid for the Invicta FC veteran, who had been finished by Megan Anderson and Faith Van Duin in her previous two bouts.