Bellator star Valerie Loureda is following in the footsteps of her American Top Team stablemate and fellow Cuban-American, UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal.
Speaking on the latest episode of Hablemos MMA, Loureda opened up on the influence Masvidal has had on her career thus far.
“I’m very confident I can be the next face to come out of Miami, the next female fighter,” Loureda said in Spanish (translation via Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). “I don’t know any female fighter that is Cuban, and I’m very confident I could be the next one.
“I know that I can get the same support the community has given Jorge. I have the same coaches as Jorge, the same training, and I’m following his steps in the sport. He’s guiding me a lot. I’m very confident in my camp, in my team, my city behind me, and I’m going to win this fight for the Cubans here in Miami.”
Valerie Loureda, who is now 2-0 in MMA, is currently gearing up for a scrap with Tara Graff at Bellator 243 on August 8.
While she has not competed in close to a year, and has had her training hindered by an injury and a stint on the Spanish reality television show Exalton, she’s feeling ready for the task at hand.
She reminds that Masvidal isn’t the only top fighter she’s able to learn from and train with at American Top Team. She’s also been doing lots of training with former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
“My opponent is very aggressive, and like most of the opponents that I have, she’s going to try to take me down,” Loureda said. “But if they knew that I’m very prepared for that (they might not). I train with the best female fighters on the planet here at American Top Team. I did the camp with Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) in January (and) February. I’m ready.
“She sees me on Instagram and she thinks I only post pictures, but she doesn’t know I train twice, three times a day, and like an animal. That’s my secret weapon. She thinks I’m weak – I’m just an Instagram model. But when I step in the cage, I transform.”
Do you think Valerie Loureda can follow in the footsteps of Jorge Masvial and become a huge star in MMA?