Valerie Loureda’s pro MMA debut was supposed to be against Anastasia Bruce on a Bellator card, but that will no longer be happening.
There’s been a change of plans for the professional MMA debut of former US Olympian Taekwondo specialist Valerie Loureda.
Loureda was scheduled to fight Anastasia Bruce at Bellator 215 on February 15th in Connecticut. Much like Loureda, Bruce has no pro MMA experience, but while Loureda’s amateur record is listed as 2-1, Bruce’s record is 0-12. Not exactly competitive matchmaking, to say the least.
Evidently, the commission agrees, and the fight has been rejected by Mike Mazzulli, president of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation and also the head of the Association of Boxing Commissions. This news was first reported by journalist Eric Kowal.
Here are some more details by MMAjunkie:
Mazzulli did not feel comfortable approving the matchup and requested Bellator propose a new opponent. Bruce’s fighting future will no longer come with Bellator, a company official said.
A search for a replacement opponent for Loureda. Ideally Bellator can do much better than an 0-12 amateur, as that’s just a blatant squash match that doesn’t need to be seen.
Bellator 215 is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov, and will be shown live on Paramount Network and DAZN.