Bellator star and new WWE signee Valerie Loureda recently joined TMZ for an in-depth conversation about all things pro-wrestling, which included Loureda naming Ronda Rousey as her “goal” opponent in WWE, and how the former SmackDown women’s champion inspired her to get into MMA. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Her goal is to face Ronda Rousey in WWE:
“She tweeted the other day ‘Who’s next?’ and before I even found out I was getting a contract with WWE, I tweeted back, ‘me. That’s the goal I have one day.”
How she never watched MMA until she saw Ronda Rousey:
“I never watched MMA before in my life, and just so happens, Ronda was fighting, and I saw a beautiful woman fighting in a cage … and I got goosebumps. I said, ‘Nana, if she’s doing that, I can do it too,’ and that’s really what gave me all that fire and passion inside of me to begin my martial arts journey.”