Leah McCourt (born 21 June 1992) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. She is a former

IMMAF The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) was founded on 29 February 2012 as the international governing body for amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Registered as a non-profit organisation under Swedish law, IMMAF serves as a democra ...

World and European Amateur champion and

International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Ji ...

gold medalist. She is also a black belt in Judo. As of December 13, 2022, she is #8 in the Bellator Women's pound-for-pound Rankings and #4 in the Bellator Women's Featherweight Rankings.

Background

McCourt, who grew up on a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

in Belfast, was put into Judo as a child by her father. From the age of 11, she quit judo and all her spare time was spent riding ponies and horses, competing around Northern Ireland and at places like Balmoral and the Dublin Horseshow. Due to her families financial troubles, she had to ride troubled horses who others were unwilling to own. When she was a teenager, McCourt developed an allergy towards horses, leading her to giving up on her horse riding hobby. She first started training at a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym at the aged of 18, after giving birth to her daughter, Isabella, and becoming a single mother. McCourt signed an exclusive multi-year fight sports equipment and sports apparel agreement with

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka ...

is the first female athlete to be placed on an apparel deal from the UK.

Amateur mixed martial arts career

McCourt started her MMA career in Clan Wars MMA, debuting on 7 June 2014 at Clan Wars 19, winning the fight versus Sarah Louise Scott by armbar submission. On 1 November 2014 McCourt lost from Aoife Murphy at Clan Wars 20 by TKO (punches). In November 2015, she won the

- European Open Championships versus Sini Koivunen (by armbar submission) and Mia Isola (by unanimous decision). In November 2016, McCourt won the

- 2016 IMMAF World Championships versus Yvonne Chow (by Kimura submission), Taryn Conklin (by Kimura submission), and Julia Dorny (by TKO).

Professional mixed martial arts career

McCourt made her professional MMA debut on at ''CWFC 85 - Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 85'', losing by Rizlen Zouak via TKO (Punches) in Round 2. On 16 June 2018, McCourt took part at ''CW 94 - Cage Warriors 94'' and won the fight versus

Manon Fiorot Manon Fiorot (born February 17, 1990) is a French mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of February 27, 2022, she is #1 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings, and #11 ...

by split decision. After this win, McCourt signed a six-fight deal with

. McCourt made her Bellator debut against

Hatice Özyurt Hatice Ozyurt (born ) is a Dutch female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Steenwijk, Netherlands. She has competed professionally since 2010 and a WAKO-Pro runner up and mixed martial artist. Kickboxing record (incomplete) , - s ...

at Bellator 217 on 23 February 2019. At weigh-ins, Ozyurt came in at 148lbs and was fined 20 per cent of her fight purse. She won the bout via doctor stoppage after the doctor stopped the fight at the end of the first round due to a cut under Hatice's eye. McCourt won her sophomore performance on 27 September 2019 at Bellator 227 versus Kerry Hughes by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke). McCourt faced Judith Ruis at Bellator 240 on 22 February 2020. However, on February 4, it was announced that James Gallagher pulled out of the event due to a back injury, thus a McCourt's bout was bumped to the main event. In the process, she became the first woman to headline a MMA event in Europe. McCourt won the bout via unanimous decision. After her win against Ruis, McCourt had surgery in two places on her right shoulder, which prevented her from fighting again in 2020. McCourt faced

Janay Harding Janay Harding (born September 28, 1994) is a New Zealand female mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Bellator MMA. Since January 1, 2021 Sherdog has her ranked as the #7 Female Featherweight in the world. Backgr ...

on 21 May 2021 at

Bellator 259 Bellator 259: Cyborg vs. Smith 2 was a mixed martial arts event that was produced by Bellator MMA at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background The event featured a Bellator Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the ch ...

. At the weigh-ins, McCourt weighed in at 149.4 pounds, three and a half pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and McCourt was fined a percentage of her purse, which went to her opponent Harding. After McCourt caught Harding with an upkick, McCourt locked in the triangle choke and won the bout in the second round. McCourt faced Jessica Borga on 1 October 2021 at Bellator 267. She won the one-sided bout via unanimous decision. McCourt faced

Sinead Kavanagh Sinead Kavanagh is an Irish female mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Bellator MMA. Fight Matrix had her ranked #10 Women's Featherweight from April 2021 till July 2021, and March 2022. She is currently ranke ...

on 25 February 2022 at

Bellator 275 Bellator 275: Mousasi vs. Vanderford was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 25, 2022, at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background In the main event, Gegard Mousasi defended his Middleweight title ...

. McCourt lost the bout via unanimous decision. McCourt faced

Dayana Silva Dayana Silva (born August 17, 1990) is a Brazilian female mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. As of September 27, 2022, she is #6 in the Bellator Women's Featherweight Rankings. Background Discovere ...

on 23 September 2022 at

Bellator 285 ''Bellator 285: Henderson vs. Queally'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on 23 September 2022 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background Bellator returned to Dublin for the second time in 2022, fea ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision. McCourt is scheduled to face

Cat Zingano Cathilee Deborah "Cat" Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

on March 31, 2023 at Bellator 293.

Mixed martial arts record

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Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

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, England ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCourt, Leah 1992 births Living people Female mixed martial artists from Northern Ireland Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Muay Thai practitioners from Northern Ireland Female Muay Thai practitioners Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners from Northern Ireland Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Female judoka from Northern Ireland Bellator MMA champions Bellator female fighters

Background

Amateur mixed martial arts career

Professional mixed martial arts career

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References