Leah McCourt will return to the Bellator cage for the first time in 2024, when she takes on Sara Collins at Bellator Champions Series London.
The pair will clash in the co-main event of the event which will take place on September 14 at the OVO Arena in a Featherweight contest.
By the time the event rolls around, it will have been 11 months since ‘The Curse’ last fought. McCourt should have already made the walk once this year in a rematch with Sinead Kavanagh but was forced to withdraw from the contest due to a rib injury.
Prior to the injury, McCourt had a busy couple of years, finding herself in four big fights. The first of the notable contests was the clash with Kavanagh at Bellator 275. In what was an extremely unusual turn of events, Kavanagh appeared to damage her leg just seconds into the contest, leading to her barely being able to put any weight through it. Somehow Kavanagh managed to continue through the bout and take two of the three rounds, but she wasn’t the only one to show serious heart in the contest. McCourt was trapped in an excruciating submission in the first round but managed to survive.
Following the loss, McCourt got back to winning ways with a unanimous decision against Dayana Silva. She then dropped a decision to Cat Zingano before coming back with a vengeance later in the year and ran through Sara McMann in less than a round at Bellator 300.
Sara Collins may be considered by some to be the underdog heading into the contest but it was a similar story when she squared off with Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 299. Collins had already been scheduled to compete this year, against Olena Kolesnyk. Unfortunately for Collins, Kolesnyk had to pull out with an injury.
The main event of the London card will see the highly anticipated rematch between current Bellator Middleweight champion Johnny Eblen and the number one contender in the division Fabian Edwards.
