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Valerie Loureda: ‘My blood was boiling’ watching other female fighters’ success

The fiery Miamian remembers her early impressions of the women competing in cagefighting and they were upsetting, to say the least. A taekwondo master, Loureda would watch as other female fighters became stars, fighters that she didn’t see as being out of her league.

Loureda recently made a successful pro MMA debut at Bellator 216, defeating Colby Fletcher by first-round TKO. That validation was a longtime coming for Loureda, who told Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour that she knew she had to make the jump to MMA when she saw women taking advantage of opportunities that she could be claiming herself.