Letourneau ready for title shot at UFC 193

Sometimes in life you get exactly what you ask for and more.

For example, Canadian strawweight Valerie Letourneau wanted a marquee opponent after her last fight, an impressive unanimous decision victory over Maryna Moroz and that’s exactly what she’ll have when she steps in against champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event of UFC 193 on November 14th at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

The Canadian knew she was on track for a title shot, but thought she might need her hand raised one more time to get there.

“I knew it was going to come, but I thought I was still one fight away,” Letourneau told TSN.ca. “My goal, even when I won my fight in Montreal (a split decision victory over Jessica Rakoczy), I asked for a top 10 opponent.  I was asking for Claudia (Gadelha) but I knew she was supposed to fight Joanna so in my mind I was thinking I’d get another fight.”
 

“Beating Moroz was getting me closer to my title, but I never thought it was going to come a few days after the fight.  Then everything happened, Claudia was injured and I was the best bet for this fight.”

The UFC’s rumoured goal was always to have Jedrzejczyk defend her belt as the co-main event to Ronda Rousey’s next fight, but when the date was moved from January to November (as the fight was pulled from UFC 195 and placed at UFC 193), it meant a quick turn-around for Letourneau, who last fought in August.

Despite the short layoff, she’s feeling at the top of her game and ready for the challenge.

“I didn’t really have time off between my last fight and this one, so I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life.  Seriously, I would be good to go right now,” said Letourneau. “I was worried about how my body would react, then we did media which gave me a few days off and when I went in the gym and got back to training, I was in top shape.”

The last two fighters that stepped into the cage with the defending champion, former champion Carla Esparza and contender Jessica Penne, left a bloody mess after suffering second and third round TKO losses respectively due to punches.  Letourneau believes that unlike the previous challengers, she brings a skill set to the fight that will allow her to accomplish what the others could not in their bouts.

“I feel like the opponents she fought made her look good and she is good,” said Letourneau.  “But they couldn’t answer anything she did, they had nothing to mix it up with her, they were trying to take her down and she’s really difficult to take down so she made them look terrible.  She hasn’t fought someone that can exchange and trade punches, so of course she looks awesome.  I feel like it’s going to be a different fight.”

The 32-year-old is not taking the title holder lightly, but feels like she can win this fight and leave Australia with the belt, no matter where the fight goes.  However, she does believe it will come down to what both fighters do best, throw hands.

“She’s an awesome fighter, she’s so exciting to watch, I love to watch her fight and everyone knows I love stand-up,” said Letourneau. “She’s very technical also, but we’re both stand-up fighters, we’re both good on our feet and we both have different strengths.”

“This fight is going to be about who can get the best of the other, but there are also so many ways I can win this fight.  My ground game is good, I’m not a big wrestler and I’m not going to change everything in six weeks but there are many other ways I can win this fight.  I love to stand and she loves to stand too, so I feel like it’s going to go that way.”