Despite taking her first professional loss at Bellator 259, Scott Coker doesn’t believe the stock of Valerie Loureda dropped in the slightest.
Valerie Loureda and Hannah Guy went head-to-head inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. In the main event, fans witnessed Cris Cyborg continue her Bellator dominance with a dramatic fifth-round stoppage of Leslie Smith by TKO. In addition, the night saw the young 22-year old Loureda demonstrate power in her hands in a competitive fight against Guy. Yet, Guy’s toughness was the story of the night as she hung on in the grappling exchanges for much of the fight to secure the victory against Loureda.
Bellator MMA president Scott Coker spoke at the Bellator 259 post-fight press conference and seemed to believe that the social media darling Loureda would bounce back from the unanimous decision loss.
“I was talking to Dan (Owner of American Top Team Based in Florida), because she’s out at ATT in Florida, and he said, ‘Hey, she’s young, she’ll rebound, she’ll work on her ground game and she’ll eventually put it all together,’” Coker said. “She’s got time and I know that, especially with what Dan’s been telling me, he says, ‘Scott, this girl is in the gym and she’s throwing bombs at people. She wants to fight everybody all the time.”
Following the aftermath of Bellator 259, Scott Coker was impressed with Loureda’s toughness, and after some time to practice her grappling, the Bellator boss believes Loureda will eventually put it all together inside the cage. After all, the 22-year old has only had four professional fights.
“So she’s got that spirit but it’s just putting more of those pieces together, those transitional elements of MMA and she’ll get it together.” Scott Coker said.
Following her performance at Bellator 259, Loureda is still held in high regard by the company. While her opponent, Guy isn’t getting the rub quite yet, there is no doubt she is en route to becoming a big name if she keeps winning under the Bellator banner against these popular names.
Do you think Scott Coker is correct or did Hannah Guy take all of Valerie Loureda’s momentum?
