UFC 186 results: Valerie Letourneau batters Jessica Rakoczy's eye, takes decision

Valerie Letourneau

MONTREAL – Valerie Letourneau may have thought she could bully Jessica Rakoczy on the mat, but after “The Ultimate Fighter 18” finalist gave her a run for her money, she settled into a standup fight and earned a unanimous decision.

Letourneau’s (7-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) striking and grappling was just a little bit better than Rakoczy (1-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC), who like her made a debut in the strawweight division.

The women’s strawweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 186 event at Bell Centre in Montreal. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and a main card on pay-per-view.

The final scores were 29-28 twice and 30-27 for Letourneau, who was eliminated before she could make it into the “TUF 18” house. The Montreal native picked up her second straight win after a split-call in her debut, while Rackoczy remains winless in pro UFC bouts.

Letourneau used Rackoczy’s forward pressure against her early in the affair, locking in a triangle-armbar that threatened a tapout. Rackoczy gamely escaped from the hold and reversed position. But her right eye began to swell from a strike landed early by Letourneau.

The injury would worsen for Rackoczy, who told her corner she couldn’t see and then changed her story for the cageside doctor, who ruled her fit to continue. Letourneau would exploit her advantage with kicks, one of which caught Rackoczy’s head and wobbled her.

Rackoczy tried to even the score by pressing her opponent against the cage, only to take several knees before Letourneau escaped and continued to work combinations.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 186 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 186, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Montreal.)