Valerie Letourneau’s return to the flyweight division was not an enjoyable one.
Letourneau, who’s fought as high as bantamweight and as low as strawweight, was a part of a special, one-off women’s 125 lbs bout on the main card of UFC Ottawa on Saturday night.
The Montreal native was fighting for the first time since coming unstuck against 115 lbs champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk last November and was tasked with dealing with Scottish Muay Thai specialist Joanne Calderwood.
Spinning back fist! @DRkneevil stops @ValTroubleMMA with a brutal TKO! ??? #UFCOttawa https://t.co/s2X2nZ9qZM
— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) June 19, 2016
It was not a fruitful night as Letourneau was picked apart on the feet by Calderwood and, eventually, a body shot finished her off in the third and final round.
Commentators Jon Anik and Brian Stann believed that Letourneau had been rattled by body kicks throughout the earlier rounds as she appeared to repeatedly clutch her chest.
Great win for @DrKneevil!! #UFCOttawa https://t.co/Ejxe0L5Hjq
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 19, 2016
But, it wasn’t strikes to her chest that Letourneau was concerned with as ‘Trouble’ has since explained that her sports bra kept falling down which is why she was grabbing at it.
Letourneau posted a lengthy message to Instagram, where she voiced her irritation with the commentators suggesting she was bothered by the body shots.
She wrote: “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 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!”
