Bellator Champions Series London: Leah McCourt says Sara Collins bout ‘a celebration of women’

Sometimes, history has a funny way of repeating itself.

Earlier this month, just as she did four years ago, Leah McCourt checked her phone after another gruelling training session as she prepared for her next fight.

“I was sitting in a bad mood just after training – exhausted, hungry, and then the same thing happened – I got a text saying ‘you’ve been made the main event’,” McCourt told BBC Sport.

With Fabian Edwards’ rematch against middleweight champion Johnny Eblen postponed, Northern Ireland’s McCourt will now top the card for her bout with Australia’s Sara Collins at the Bellator Champions Series in London on Saturday.

In 2020 the same thing happened as James Gallagher’s bout with Cal Ellenor was called off, meaning McCourt became the first woman to headline a Bellator Europe event in victory over Judith Ruis.

McCourt, 32, called that event a “celebration of women” and she uses the same phrase when describing the upcoming Collins fight at OVO Arena Wembley.

The focus will be on featherweight pair McCourt and Collins, but she wants to make sure all the women who have inspired her to this point in her career also get their chance in the spotlight.

“It’s an honour really because it’s a celebration of women. It’s putting us in the limelight, so shout-out to Bellator for giving us that opportunity to show what we can do,” said McCourt.

“I’m very passionate about supporting women, I’m an ambassador for Women’s Aid in Northern Ireland, my sister fosters two girls, my mum works in a shelter in Belfast.

“I look at them as inspirations. Obviously I get a bit more publicity but the women around me are very strong. They have jobs that are in service to others, they’re not in the limelight.

“London, it’s a great opportunity for everybody to celebrate.”