Valerie Letourneau will make history on Nov. 14 when she becomes the first Canadian woman to compete for the UFC stawweight title when she steps into the Octagon against champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193 in Australia.
The fight booking was somewhat surprising as it appeared Jedrzejczyk would be competing in a rematch against Claudia Gadelha at UFC 195 in January. Instead, the UFC opted to book the French-Canadian fighter, who recalls the whirlwind of events that lead to her earning this title shot.
“My phone kept ringing in the middle of the night and it was like 1 a.m. in the morning when I answered it,” Letourneau told Sportsnet. “The [UFC] told me they had a big offer and at first the fight was for January. No doubt I [accepted] it right away.
“I thought I had plenty of time to get ready, it was awesome. Then Robbie Lawler [the original UFC 193 headliner] got an injury and they had to change the fight to November, which was a totally different story. I took it right away, but I was more like, ‘I got to train now, I’ve got to go for a run, and I’ve got to do everything right now.’ That’s probably the best thing that happened. I was already in top shape. If anyone asked me one place I wanted to fight it was Australia. I always wanted to visit there since I was a kid. I’ve never been there before. My timing was perfect, I think everything happens for a reason.”
Letourneau (8-3) has fought professionally since 2007 and began her career when women’s MMA wasn’t anywhere near the UFC’s radar. Earning a title shot after racking off three straight wins in the UFC has been a culmination of all the hard work she’s put into sport.
Upon receiving the news of her championship matchup, the most encouraging message she received came from her parents.
“What I’m most proud of is more so what my family said to me,” Letourneau said. “I always felt like they had my back, but it is such a crazy sport and they don’t understand why I pushed so hard to do this. I could do any type of job. To see them proud, that’s my own personal gift. I’ve been in this sport for so long with nothing going on. Fighting against the stigma of women [not having a place] in MMA. Then suddenly, two, three years ago everything changed. I’m glad I have a chance to taste [a championship fight] because I’m 32 years old and something needed to move. I’m glad I didn’t do all this for nothing.”
Her opponent, an undefeated former kickboxing champion fighting out of Poland, has become a household name among hardcore fans ever since she dispatched Carla Esparza by second-round TKO at UFC 185 earlier this year to capture the UFC’s 115-pound title. Jedrzejczyk’s personality outside the cage has also won her over with the MMA faithful, which is rare to see especially from a fighter whose native tongue isn’t English. Despite the 28-year-old looking unstoppable in her last two bouts – dismantling Esparza and Jessica Penne – Letournau believes this is a favorable matchup for her.
“I really think I’m her toughest match so far in her entire career,” Letourneau explained. “I don’t care what people think or what people say. I’m very critical about myself. I really don’t think I’m perfect, but the more I’m watching her, and I’m sure she knows it, I think I’m her toughest match besides Claudia [Gadelha]. But she and I are two different fighters. Claudia doesn’t have some of the tools that I have.”
The question many fans and pundits alike are asking is what can Letourneau do differently in this fight that Esparza and Penne couldn’t? Letourneau offered her own explanation.
“They couldn’t get the fight to where they wanted. When someone punches you in the face and you can’t reply it breaks you mentally. It hurts, your body gives up sometimes,” Letourneau said. “Even if you don’t get knocked out, you want to stop that. Carla was taking so many punches she couldn’t reply. [Carla] broke pretty quick in the fight, maybe before the fight. I think Penne, she was there to fight, and she was there to fight for real. I like to analyze people attitude before and when they walk in. She was going in there for real. It’s just it’s tough from what I’ve seen with Joanna she is so hard to take down.”
For her training camp Letourneau is continuing to put time in at American Top Team in Florida, where she’s lived for close to three years. Despite having optimal female training partners – including fellow UFC strawweights Jessica Aguilar and Nina Ansaroff – she revealed that she switched things up for this matchup.
“To be honest I’m training more with guys for this fight, because Joanna fights like a guy. The way she throws, the way she strikes,” Letourneau said. “With all my previous fights I was working more with girls. I keep all that experience with me but with this fight I’m using more my guys at the gym with a similar style to Joanna.”
LISTEN: Letourneau talks Jedrzejczyk, fighting in front of 70,000 fans
Oddsmakers currently have Letourneau pegged as a 13-to-1 underdog. While the single mother tends to tune out the betting lines heading into her fights, she remains puzzled as to why people keep underestimating her.
“I’ve always been the underdog, I don’t know why. It never crosses my mind to go see what the odds are on me. It’s more when I read the comments. People have no clue who I’ve fought before,” Letourneau explained. “They don’t know I’ve been training for 10 years at Tristar and almost three years at American Top Team. I don’t have many fights in my career because I’ve had injuries with long layoffs. My only fight on a UFC main card was in my last fight and I feel like people haven’t seen many of my fights.
“What really hurts me is my performance on The Ultimate Fighter. It’s like look at any of my fights, even my first pro fight, that’s not me. That loss really hurt me because I really looked like shit, I didn’t show up and I didn’t even try to win. This is probably what people have seen [more than] any of my other fights. That loss is so embarrassing. It kind of pushed me to work harder.”
Ignoring the critics, Letoureau plans to put on the performance of a lifetime on a Nov. 14 card that is headlined by Ronda Rousey at Etihad Stadium. She feels confident not only that she can hand her younger adversary the first loss of her career, but also finish the seemingly unstoppable champion.
“I want a finish. I want to knock her out. That’s always the plan. There are so many ways I could win this fight. I love to stand up. I’m not scared to go to the ground, same as her, she likes to keep this fight standing up. It’s a five-round fight which means more rounds and more opportunities for me.”
Without looking past her title fight at UFC 193, Letourneau did give some insight on fellow Canadian and UFC straweeight Randa Markos who recently made the move from Windsor to Montreal. Markos is training full time at Letounreau’s old gym at Tristar and Letourneau believes she’ll do well there.
“It’s an awesome gym and I don’t know where she was training before. I already spoke to a few guys there and I mean I like this girl. She’s a great fighter, she’s got a bunch of heart and I’m sure she’s going to improve a lot at Tristar, there is no doubt about it. She’s not the fanciest fighter but you always know she’s going to be in your face, she’s tough.”
