French Canadian striker Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau overcame an eye injury and picked up her first Octagon win tonight at UFC 174: “Johnson vs Bagautinov” in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Létourneau narrowly edged out fellow late replacement Elizabeth Phillips in a bantamweight bout.
Létourneau and Phillips each stepped in to compete at UFC 174 on very short notice, but both put on solid showings in their respective UFC debuts. Phillips began to slow down in rounds two and three and Létourneau took advantage by landing crisp combinations en route to a Split Decision win.
Létourneau (6-3-0) fought off an early takedown from Phillips (4-2-0) in round one and she countered a Phillips combination with a quick flurry. Phillips landed jabs and right hands that caused Létourneau’s left eye to immediately swell up. With her orbital bone seemingly broken, Létourneau was forced to play defence in the ensuing minutes as Phillips backed her up with one-twos and overhand rights. Late in the round, Létourneau stunned Phillips with a head kick and she followed up with a combination that led to a big exchange of punches.
Early in round two, Létourneau began to take control of the striking exchanges by countering Phillips’s aggression with short uppercuts in close. Phillips became more wild with her strikes and Létourneau countered a leg kick with a crisp combination. She landed a lengthy flurry that backed Phillips up and kept the pressure on with a head kick. Phillips slowed down and Létourneau began to pick her apart with straight punches. She hurt Phillips with a knee late in the round and avoided Phillips’s counters.
Létourneau stuffed a takedown in round three and stunned Phillips with a combination and a body kick in close. Létourneau landed uppercuts and she countered a clinch with knees against the fence. She mixed up her strikes effectively as the round progressed and kept Phillips guessing with uppercuts and some hard body kicks.
After three rounds, the fight went to the scorecards. One judge scored the close fight for Phillips, but the remaining two both correctly sided with Létourneau, who took home a well-deserved Split Decision victory. A battered Létourneau was emotional after the fight as she explained that it was a dream come true to earn a win inside the UFC Octagon.
Winner: Valérie Létourneau by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 6-3-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
Great fight by Létourneau, who also showed a lot of heart… and she is one hell of a striker…!
I was not sure if she won or lost round 1, to be fair… she took more damage, but she also hurt Phillips badly at the end of the round… and she seemed to pick her pace after the second half started and to dominate from there on.
Much props to her.
Should be noted that she only has losses to top fighters: Kaufman, Davis (split) and Gadelha (split).
So Létourneau has basically only lost to three of the best women fighters in the world. No wonder she was so impressive in her UFC debut. She has a fantastic future ahead of her. After fighting nearly 3 rounds with a broken orbital bone, you can bet Dana White knows who Valérie Létourneau is now.
Actually, her orbital bone wasn’t broken, as initially suggested. But her eye was so swollen it shut completely. Still, very impressive. Her striking technique was top-notch there.