When Will Bellator Prospect Valerie Loureda Return To Action?

By FIGHTSPORTS Jul 30, 2020

A highly-touted flyweight will be looking to return to MMA action for the first time in over a year.

Bellator announced that Valerie Loureda will be joining the Bellator 243 card, set to take place on August 7. She will face off against Tara Graff.

Loureda (2-0) made her professional MMA debut in February 2019. The 22-year-old impressed with a TKO win against Colby Fletcher at Bellator 216. In June of that year, she beat Larkyn Dasch at Bellator 222 in New York City. Since that time, Loureda has competed on Exalton, a reality show.

Graff (1-1) has primarily fought for King of the Cage. She won her debut against Marisol Ruelas but lost her last bout against Alibeth Rall Milliron. Both bouts were in 2018.

This matchup was meant for Bellator 238 in January but Loureda had to back out of the bout due to an injury.

Additionally, several new bouts were added to the Bellator 243 card, including:

Christian Edwards v. Ahmed Samir
Nainoa Dung v. Charlie Campbell
Dalton Rosta v. Mark Gardner
Grant Neal v. Hamza Salim
Derek Campos v. Adam Borics
Myles Jury v. Georgi Karakhanyan

The main event of Bellator 243, set for inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, will be a rematch between Benson Henderson and Michael Chandler. The co-main event will be Matt Mitrione v. Timothy Johnson.