WWE only signs a star if they can make money off of them. Bringing MMA fighters to train in a pro wrestling ring has had some degree of success in the past. In July, 23-year-old Bellator MMA fighter Valerie Loureda will head to Orlando to start her WWE career.
Valerie Loureda recently said that she had signed a multi-year WWE contract, making her a former Bellator MMA competitor. The news was announced by the soon-to-be 24-year-old on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour. She claimed that she is the first Cuban-American woman to sign a contract with the business.
According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the deal first came about when her agent, Abe Kawa, was collaborating with WWE on AJ Ferrari’s NIL deal the previous year. She was invited to WrestleMania, her first WWE event, when her name was up in the conversation. After making an appearance at the April trial during WrestleMania week in Dallas, she felt she wanted the chance and that WWE was the place she wanted to be.
She lost weight and underwent light training in preparation for her May tryout. She claimed she had only ever gone to Orlando once, but after experiencing her first bump, she knew this was the field she wanted to switch to. She agreed to a contract on Monday, and ESPN reports that she will start on July 19.
She wasn’t sure if she would be able to preserve her name, but if she could, she wanted to keep Loureda or some indication of her Cuban origin in her ring name. She stated that she is finished with WWE and that this will be her full-time job. Scott Coker of Bellator MMA stated that she will still be bound by her contract.
If this is the last fight Loureda competes in, she finishes with a 4-1 record. She last engaged in combat in November 2021. She has only engaged in five fights, but she already has a sizable online following, with 908,000 Instagram followers.
Since it is who she truly is, she hopes to be a babyface. By the end of the year, she hopes to be on NXT TV, and within a year, she wants to join the main roster. Loureda claimed to be a huge admirer of Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair, and that Flair congratulated her via DM. To get the latest updates, stay tuned to Thirsty.
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