Valerie Letourneau of American Top Team (Photo : Photo: Twitter)
The idea of defending a championship belt is a scary thing altogether. Add that to the fact that the said titleholder fights a contender who sort of has nothing to lose, yet everything to gain.
Take Valerie Letourneau. The UFC Women's Strawweight contender will face undefeated division queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk in front of thousands at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
For Letourneau, being a 20-1 underdog is nothing new as she's always clawed her way from the bottom the moment she decided to take on mixed martial arts.
"People don't know my story, but I've been in this sport for quite a while," the 32-year-old said during an open workout in support of her co-headlining UFC 193 bout.
She continued: "I was training in gyms where there was not even a locker (room) for girls. I was in the locker room with guys walking naked, and they didn't care. They just wanted to make us go away. We were just a waste of time."
This inappropriate gym behavior is nothing compared to the pressure of fighting in the UFC, but it didn't faze Letourneau as she continued training hard and winning bouts before eventually getting a shot at the strawweight belt.
In a couple of days, the Montreal, Quebec, Canada native will walk inside the octagon with confidence and fight the biggest fight of her life amidst a massive crowd; a bout that will highlight the pinnacle of all the sacrifices and hard work she had to put in.
"For me, for my generation, looking at this, this is just amazing," Letourneau shared. "I'm so happy I could have the taste. I'm 32 years old. I have a few years in front of me, but I'm just happy, from the beginning to now. It's awesome."
