TORONTO – Canadian Valerie (Trouble) Letourneau can become the first female fighter to win in three UFC weight classes in June when she meet’s Scotland’s Joanne (JoJo) Calderwood in a one-off flyweight bout in Ottawa.
The matchup marks the UFC’s first ever women’s 125-pound fight, but does not mark the launch of a new division. The UFC says it is looking at a women’s flyweight division in the future, but is sticking with strawweight (115-pound) bantamweight (135-pound) classes for the moment.
Letourneau (8-4-0) is coming off a five-round decision loss to strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193 in November.
The 32-year-old from Montreal, who trains in Coconut Creek, Fla., becomes the ninth Canadian on June 18 televised card. The card also features welterweight Alex Garcia, a Dominican who lives in Montreal.
The main event at the Arena at TD Place sees No. 1 welterweight contender Rory (Red King) MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who fights out of Montreal, against No. 2 Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson.
Letourneau made her UFC debut as a bantamweight in June 2014 when she won a split decision over Elizabeth Phillips at UFC 174 in Vancouver. She then moved down to strawweight to win a unanimous decision over fellow Canadian Jessica Rakoczy at UFC 186 in Montreal, becoming the first UFC female to win in two weight classes.
Letourneau, who won a decision over Maryna Moroz last August in Saskatoon, is ranked No. 5 among strawweight contenders while Calderwood (10-1-0) is No. 11.
Calderwood, who joined the UFC via "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show, is coming off a win over Cortney Casey.