On September 10, 2011, Ontario's first female MMA match takes place in Sudbury, Ontario.
I have already had the pleasure to speak with one of the woman involved in the match, now I get the chance to speak with Montreal based, TriStar trained, Valerie Letourneau. Valerie will share her views on her career, her opponent, and the state of women's MMA.
JZ - Thank you for taking the time to speal with me. For those who may not know Valerie Letourneau, can you let us know a bit about yourself?
VL - In a nutshell, I started Martial Arts at age 15, and by the age of 16 I started competing. At 19 I had to stop competing temporarly to give birth to my beautiful daughter Gabrielle. After one year off, I needed to get back in the gym and I started training like a pro. My first pro fight was in 2006, and to this day I am still the only pro female MMA fighter from Quebec.
JZ - You train at TriStar, famous for producing such fighters as Georges St. Pierre, David Loiseau, and Rory MacDonald as of late. How is it to be around fighters of that caliber on a regular basis, and how has it helped your progression as a fighter?
VL - I have great faith in my coaches and training partners. Just being around these athletes pushes me to strive for bigger and better things. I am blessed to have great team at Tristar, led by Firas Zahabi and Eric O’Keefe, and I also have a great support team that includes the likes of Howard Grant (Boxing), Bruno Fernandes (BJJ), The Montreal Wresling Club, and Larry Vinette (strenght and Conditionning).
JZ - Your next opponent is set to be Bethany Marshall at Freedom Fight in Sudbury, Ontario. You stepped in on short notice for this fight, so what do you know about your opponent and what about Freedom Fight made you decide to take the match for the promotion?
VL - I don’t know much of her. She has a great winning record, and I know she competes in submission fighting and that she is successful there, but there isn’t much footage availlble on Bethany. This fight will bring out different skills, I will prepare differently from my last fight with Julie Malenfant. There aren’t that many oppertunities for female fighters in MMA fight now, and when I saw that Freedom Figh was not only putting on a female fight, but a female fight of high caliber, it was a no brainer when Pete Rodley contacted my management for this fight. Yes, it’s a bit short notice, but I’m always in shape and I look forward to this challenge.
JZ - Your current MMA record stands at 3-2, but you have already faced some very talented women in such a short career, Sarah Kauffman and Alexis Davis. Do you ever wish that you had a longer path available to you in your progression, or did those fighters help you become even better in defeat?
VL - In an ideal world, I would certainly have preferred to have a few more fights under my belt before I faced these top girls, but my management at the time made these decisions for me, and I never turn down a challenge. It wasn’t easy to prepare for these girls because not too long ago there was nearly no information on the net about female fighters, let alone footage. But I always try to see the positive side of things, and I certainly gainned a lot of experience fighting these top fighters, and I truly believe it has made me a better prepared athlete for whatever challenges are presented to me.
JZ - Alot of MA fans dont follow womens MMA as much as they should. Being a womens fighter, and a Canadian one at that, what is your take on the state of womens MMA right now?
VL - Women’s MMA is slowly growing, and I think that with all the younger girls trainning in the gyms, female MMA will continue to strive. But right now i’m doing it to surpass myself, and as long as I enjoy it, and that i feel I’m continuing to improve, I will be here. But right now my main focus is beating Bethany, then I’ll think about how that Freedom Fight belt would look on my fireplace.... But one thing at the time!
JZ - And because we are AddictedMMA, what is Valerie Letourneau addicted to?
VL - ADRENALINE!
All of us here at AddictedMMA would like to wish Valerie good luck on September 10, and in all her future matches.
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