Bellator 216: MVP vs. Daley - Predictions and Picks

#5. Valerie Loureda vs. Colby Fletcher

Former Olympian Valerie Loureda could become a huge star for Bellator

There’s not a lot to preview in this fight, purely because Loureda is making her professional MMA debut while Fletcher is 1-2 in MMA and footage on her is sparse. Essentially, there’s not a lot you can gather from poorly-filmed video of two losses.

The fight is on the main card though because Loureda is a former US Olympian and a 4th-degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, and she’s also a model with 36.8k Instagram followers at the time of writing. All of this at the age of just 20, too! Essentially, she’s a promoter’s dream and Scott Coker clearly recognises this, hence the match with such an inexperienced opponent.

Reports actually suggested Bellator was looking to match Loureda even lower on the totem pole – initial opponent Anastasia Bruce was rejected by the Connecticut Athletic Commission as she had an amateur record of 0-12 and no professional bouts, meaning it didn’t sound like a fair fight.

Tae-Kwon-Do hasn’t traditionally been the best base for budding MMA fighters, but Loureda is clearly a hugely gifted athlete, and what’s more, she already has 3 amateur wins and is training with American Top Team. Footage on her shows a pretty sharp striker, as you’d imagine – and so I don’t see her having any issues on Saturday.

The Pick: Loureda via unanimous decision