Botelho Out, Valérie Létourneau Now Meets Viviane Pereira At UFC 206An injury has forced Brazilian standout Poliana Botelho out of her upcoming strawweight bout with Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau at UFC 206: “Cormier vs Johnson 2” in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Létourneau now faces undefeated XFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Viviane “Sucuri” Pereira on the card.

UFC officials announced the change this week. Former UFC title challenger Létourneau drops back down to the strawweight division following a TKO loss in a one-off flyweight bout in June. Pereira, one of MMA’s top female prospects in any weight class, makes her long-awaited Octagon debut.

Létourneau (8-5-0) made history at UFC Fight Night 89 when she became the first woman to compete in three different UFC weight classes; a feat that she accomplished in just five fights. The skilled striker began her UFC career as a bantamweight before winning back-to-back fights at 115 pounds that led to a strawweight title shot in November. Létourneau’s championship bid ended in a decision loss to Joanna JÄ™drzejczyk, and she recently competed in a flyweight bout with Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood. The weight cut down to strawweight has been difficult for Létourneau, but she returns to 115 pounds in December.

Pereira (11-0-0) has received almost no promotion at all from the UFC since signing with the world’s largest MMA organisation this summer, but she has established herself as one of the sport’s premier female fighters during the past three years. Pereira holds notable early-career victories over Rosy Duarte, Ilara Joanne and Invicta FC veteran “Diamond” Duda Yankovich, and she is the only woman to have ever defeated Botelho, whom she now replaces at UFC 206. Pereira captured XFC strawweight gold this past year and she most recently returned to action with a decision win in August.

UFC 206: “Cormier vs Johnson 2” takes place on December 10th at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event is headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between Daniel “DC” Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

 

 

(Photo Credit: UFC)