UFC 206 results: Viviane Pereira rallies to steal split call from Valerie Letourneau in UFC debut

TORONTO – Viviane Pereira struggled at times against a much larger Valerie Letourneau, but in the end she did just enough to convince the judges.

After three rounds of sparing action, Pereira (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) barely edged out Letourneau on the scorecards, nabbing a split-decision victory with scores of 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28.

The catchweight bout (Letourneau missed the women’s strawweight limit) was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 206 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

The decision wasn’t particularly popular in Letourneau’s home country, and it elicited a long, disdainful stare from the loser when it was read. Still, it was the lack of action in the fight that left it a toss-up as it headed to the scorecards, and for that Letourneau must share at least part of the blame.

Letourneau got off to a strong start in the fight, taking Pereira down and controlling her for much of the first round. But in the second, neither fighter showed much of a sense of urgency, and a late takedown for Pereira may have stolen the round for her on some scorecards.

Headed into the third, it seemed fairly even, and still neither fighter mashed the accelerator in an attempt to pull away. Striking exchanges were brief and not especially significant. Clinch work became slow and perfunctory. It was as if both fighters thought they had a lead, and were content to run out the clock.

Not until the closing seconds did the action finally get heated, as both women planted their feet and threw with serious intentions for the first time in the fight.

When the fight went to the judges, two gave it to Pereira, with one dissenting voice in Letourneau’s favor. The fans in Toronto voiced their disapproval, but many were likely just glad to have the fight over with.

“I can’t even explain how big the win was,” Pereira said. “All of the work I put in over the years, it all came together. I’m not satisfied, though. I could have done better. I was nervous because it was my first UFC fight, but I will get better. I want to reach the top.”

The win for Pereira keeps her perfect as a professional. Letourneau has now lost three straight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 206 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Dann Stupp and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Toronto.)