With Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie sidelined due to an injury, Russian standout Milana Dudieva has received a new opponent for her fight at UFC 174: “Johnson vs Bagautinov” on June 14th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dudieva now battles Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau.
News of the change was first reported by MMAnytt.se this past week and officially confirmed on Monday. Létourneau rebounded from a loss in the TUF 18 elimination round by stopping Jordan Moore on May 16th. Dudieva brings a two-fight winning streak into her long-awaited Octagon debut.
Létourneau (5-3-0) kicked off her MMA career in 2007 and quickly became one of the top female stars in Canada thanks to a pair of appearances for TKO, the country’s largest MMA organisation at the time. She engaged in highly competitive bouts with Sarah Kaufman and Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis, but came up just short on both occasions. Létourneau bounced back with three straight stoppage victories before dropping a razor-thin Split Decision to Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha in April 2012.
Subsequent fights fell apart and Létourneau did not return to the cage until the TUF 18 tryouts this past year. In the elimination round, the French Canadian was submitted by Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi. Létourneau’s TUF 18 loss delayed her quest to become an official part of the UFC roster, but she now steps in on short notice to face Dudieva and seeks out her biggest victory to date.
Dudieva (10-3-0) has also overcome adversity during her journey to the UFC Octagon. After dropping her pro debut, Dudieva put together an impressive eight-fight winning streak that included victories over Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff and Danielle “The Honey Badger” West. She was then thought to be one win away from earning a UFC contract this past year, but an untimely loss to Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade in April put those plans on hold for the time being.
Dudieva’s next fight also ended in defeat when she was outpointed by Swedish star Pannie “Banzai” Kianzad in October, but 2014 has been much kinder to the Russian. Dudieva has posted back-to-back first-round submission victories this year and she now looks to make it three in a row by defeating Létourneau, who takes the fight on just two weeks’ notice.
UFC 174: “Johnson vs Bagautinov” takes place on June 14th at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The event is headlined by a UFC Flyweight Championship bout between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Ali “Puncher” Bagautinov.