Valerie Letourneau ran into some issues during her fight with Joanne Calderwood at UFC Fight Night 89 over the weekend.
Letourneau was troubled with a wardrobe malfunction after Calderwood’s repeated strikes to her chest, which are completely legal. Now, after hearing Letourneau address the situation, it seems like her Reebok uniform may have played a major factor in her loss even though she clearly states that she isn’t making an excuse for losing the fight.
Letourneau released a statement through an Instagram post after hearing some of the criticism over being able to take a hit to the chest that lingered over her after Calderwood stopped her in the third round by TKO.
Letourneau said the following in her post:
“I want to clarify something, my daughter told me what the commentators were saying during the fight, and I felt insulted.
“I have been practicing martial arts for 17 years, so I have no problem taking hits to the chest. It is the rule, and it isn’t worse than a low kick! My only problem during the fight is that my bra litterally [sic] slipped under my breasts. This is why I stared, embarrassed, at the referee, and I have no idea what Jojo told me, but I had to keep fighting. It seems that I was being mocked because I seemed to be complaining of blows to the breast. I think that I have nothing to prove regarding the numbers of hits I can take without complaining.
“Guys, would you be able to keep fighting without being distracted if one of your nuts was slipping out of your shorts?
“Anyway, it does not excuse my defeat, but I wanted to clarify this part of the fight!”
Video | Conor McGregor
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