[autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] was reminded during Bellator Champions Series: London media day that her bout with Sara Collins is billed as a No. 1 contender fight. All she could do was roll her eyes – not literally, but you could hear it in her voice.
“Again,” McCourt said with a smirk Wednesday.
McCourt established herself as the women’s featherweight No. 1 contender last October when she finished Sara McMann by first-round TKO at Bellator 300. A few hours later that night, 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg steamrolled past Cat Zingano to retain her title. Afterward, McCourt was brought in the cage for a faceoff to make it official – or perhaps “official” (air quotes).
Because here we are almost a year later, and Cyborg is preparing to meet PFL champion Larissa Pacheco on Oct. 19 in a pay-per-view superfight as the co-main event to the “Battle of the Giants” betweem Francis Ngannou and Renan Fereira.
“Who knows what I’ll have to do?” McCourt said. “I already faced off against her. It was meant to happen so many times, so unless I’m in the cage with her, that’s when I’ll believe it’s happening.”
With the Cyborg fight still just a dream, McCourt (8-3) is focused on undefeated Collins (5-0), whom she meets Saturday in the Bellator London main event. The fight was elevated to headline the card after the middleweight title fight between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards was scrapped last week.
“It’s obviously an honor, because two females are headlining the card at Wembley,” McCourt said.
When she breaks down Collins, whose five career wins include Bellator victories over Pam Sorenson and Sinead Kavanagh, McCourt believes the experience factor plays out in her favor and should give her an edge on fight night.
“I think the experience of always being thrown into the deep end, always being pushed on the card, main event definitely helps,” McCourt said. “I don’t know how she deals with pressure or how she handles it, but I definitely feel the benefit this week because it just feels like business as usual.”
McCourt continued, “She’s extremely tough. She’s shown that she can hang with different styles of fighters, but I think she’s not used to the kind of pace or pressure I bring. A lot of my fights are quite high-paced. I think it’s different to her, especially on fight night when you’re waiting around as the main event. It’s extra pressure that’ll play into my hands.”
McCourt wants nothing more than to fight for the women’s featherweight title. Assuming a victory on Saturday does, indeed, truly and officially make her the No. 1 contender, she hopes that opportunity will come against Cyborg, who’s facing a tough task in Pacheco next month.
“Ideally if I was fighting for the title, it would be against Cyborg,” McCourt said. “She’s the best of all time. She’s the biggest name. She’s fought everyone. She’s won all the belts. I just always believe there’s a way to beat anyone you’re up against. I believe my team and my training partners, we’d find a way to win.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Champions Series: London.