One of the newest stars in Bellator MMA says she gets Instagram DMs from women saying she's empowered them

• Valerie Loureda, 22, gets direct messages from women saying she's empowered them.
• A top young fighter, Loureda is one of Bellator MMA's rising stars.
• Loureda has a message — you can be feminine, fight, and win.

A 22-year-old rising MMA fighter called Valerie Loureda says she frequently gets direct messages from women saying that she's empowered them.

Loureda is one of the newest stars in Bellator MMA and was last seen in August 2020 when she scored a buzzer-beating knockout at a behind-closed-doors event in Connecticut.

She dropped Tara Graff at Bellator 243 with a powerful punch, then attacked her with ground-and-pound on the floor.

Loureda then danced a jig in the middle of the cage, mounted the fence, and said in her post-fight interview that people should be allowed to be who they want to be.

Loureda's message was aimed at those who had criticized her for "selling sex not MMA" because she frequently posts photos that some people perceive to be inappropriate.

It is a message she reiterated this week following an announcement that Bellator would be broadcast exclusively in the US on the premium network Showtime.

She told the Morning Kombat crew that some of the direct messages she gets on Instagram are "weird" but most of them are "from women who are empowered from what I'm doing."

Loureda continued: "That's what motivates me to keep doing this. It's not easy being a very feminine girl in this sport, there's a lot that comes with it, everything hurts … I'm not a normal girl.

"I portray that life and I can show women you can still be feminine, beautiful, and elegant and still be a monster in the cage - that's my mission in this world."

A Floridian fighter, Loureda is a resident athlete at the famed America Top Team (ATT) - a Coconut Creek facility that is home to many other prominent women's combat athletes, including two-weight UFC champion Amanda Nunes, PFL queen Kayla Harrison, and former UFC titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

"Being with such experienced fighters [at ATT], they teach me so much and they really have helped develop my career.

"I ask so many questions: 'How do you deal with this, pressure, comments?' and they really help guide me.

"My biggest inspiration is Joanna, I've had the honor of training with her, and she always tells me, 'Valerie, you're going to be champ.'"

Loureda has an unbeaten but fledgling pro MMA record of three wins (two knockouts and one decision) and said she wants to return to the Bellator arena in April, when the live MMA events company restarts its operations.