Valerie Letourneau hopes to earn women’s flyweight title shot with a victory over Kristina Williams at Bellator 201.

Valerie Letourneau isn’t mincing words; she has her eyes focused on the Bellator MMA women’s flyweight title. To get to that opportunity, she needs to leap over a tall hurdle by the name of Kristina Williams. Letourneau, the former UFC title challenger, will make her second appearance in the Bellator cage this Friday night against the undefeated Williams at Bellator 201. The women’s flyweight bout will open up the main card at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif. and will air on the Paramount Network.

“Trouble” was originally scheduled to face Bruna Ellen at the event, but Ellen was forced out of the bout with an injury. She will now face Williams, who is riding a two-fight winning streak that included a violent finish of Heather Hardy and a gritty decision win over Bellator veteran Emily Ducote. Despite having to shift preparation to a new, and taller opponent, Letourneau is ultimately happy of the opponent switch up.

“Let’s just say that it’s definitely going to be an exciting fight, but, like I said, I don’t think it’s going the full 15 minutes.”

“Definitely, oh yeah,” Letourneau told FanSided MMA. “When I got the call to fight, I knew I needed to train hard and get ready. But I like this fight way more. She’s on a good path right now. She had two really good fights and she’s been making her name. I think it’s a good fight for the both of us.

“The first fight I saw was her debut against Hardy,” Letourneau continued. “It was funny; I was sitting with my coach, Mike Brown and Joanna Jedrzejczyk — we had a dinner earlier that night — we were watching it saying ‘Oh! Oh! Oh my god!’ It was crazy, that fight. Obviously, that was an impressive win, but Hardy didn’t fight the smartest fight. She was making a lot of mistakes against someone who is kicking like her. She was impressive in that fight, but she also showed a lot of opening in the Emily Ducote fight. Emily did really well in that fight. I’ve watched that fight over and over again because I’m fighting her. Kristina had the size advantage, but she did really well in that fight.”

Letourneau is a 15-fight veteran who built up an impressive resume in the UFC’s strawweight division; including getting an opportunity to fight for the 115-pound world title against, now teammate, Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193 in November 2015. She would go on to lose her last two bouts inside the Octagon before signing with Bellator last year. She was originally supposed to debut last July against Ducote but she suffered an injury to delay her organizational debut. Letorneau got to make her Bellator debut in December, picking up a unanimous decision victory over Kate Jackson at Bellator 191.

Letourneau has been in there with some of the best fighters in the world and has experienced the ups and downs of this crazy sport. “Trouble” feels that her wealth of knowledge and experience will be quite beneficial heading into the women’s flyweight showdown on Friday night.

“I think it’s going to play big,” Letourneau said about her experience advantage. “We both have a similar style — we both fight very calm, taking our time — which will make it an interesting fight. I don’t think it will go all three rounds, though.”

While Letourneau has been in the position of, potentially, being one victory away from fighting for a championship, Williams has stepped in for a big opportunity herself. With only two professional MMA bouts under her belt, she has the chance to leapfrog the entire division. The Bellator 201 headliner will be for the women’s 125-pound title as Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will defend against Alejandra Lara, which makes the stakes a little bit higher.

With Williams’ pro MMA career being so fresh, she will have a lot of time to get into the title conversation. In essence, while Williams has a lot to gain in this fight, Letourneau believes she will be facing a young opponent with nothing to lose.

“It is, and I’ve been there before,” Letourneau explained about her opponent. “She has everything to win in this fight. It’s a very important fight for the both of us. I believe that whoever wins this fight deserves a title shot. I know she only has two fights, but she has two victories against tough opponents in Bellator. If she beats me, that will be a very big step for her. A win against her, that should get me to the title after.”

To get to that title shot — and Valerie Letourneau knows she has the name value — she needs to have an impressive showing to get there. If all goes according to plan, Letourneau plans to be a part of an exciting fight that ends in emphatic fashion, which means a shot at the winner between Macfarlane and Lara should be in the not-so-distant future.

“I think it’s going to be a knockout,” Letourneu said. “Let’s just say that it’s definitely going to be an exciting fight, but, like I said, I don’t think it’s going the full 15 minutes.

“I’m definitely focused on the fight, but the main goal, right now, is to fight for the belt,” Letourneau said. “Right now, we need to focus on the fight, but the belt is something I’ve thought about well before this one. There were talks that I would fight for the belt before this and then they gave me this fight. I am excited to fight Kristina Williams. I think it’s going to be a really good fight. But I hope my next fight will be for the belt. I really hope so.”