Leah McCourt confident Cris Cyborg fight happens: 'I'm going to fight Cyborg in Belfast'

10/10/2023 16:00

Leah McCourt has a vision for her fight with Cris Cyborg.

Were it up to McCourt, she'd welcome the featherweight legend to her home country of Northern Ireland with the champion's Bellator title on the line. McCourt defeated Sara McMann this past Saturday at Bellator 300 and then faced off with Cyborg later in the evening following Cyborg's win over Cat Zingano to seemingly set their matchup in stone.

However, with the sale of Bellator reportedly looming, it's unclear where or when the two will face off should the promotion cease operating in the near future.

On The MMA Hour, McCourt said she still expects her showdown with Cyborg to happen.

"I was told that fight could happen in Belfast," McCourt said. "Obviously, I'm so proud to be from Belfast, we've had such massive fight nights, I'm friends with Carl Frampton, I grew up going to watch the boxing in big arenas. Mick Conlan and Tyson Fury and big fight nights there. I was like, I want to be seen. I want to be the girl to bring the biggest show to Belfast. I want to bring [it] just for everyone there, we've always had the community.

"In my heart of hearts, I believe it's going to happen. I believe I'm going to fight Cyborg in Belfast."

McCourt is aware that Cyborg has plans to fight in Japan before her illustrious career is through, but in her mind a fight in Belfast is the only option.

She has reason to be confident given that she has dreamed of someday fighting Cyborg for years. Heading into her pivotal clash with McMann, McCourt not only predicted a win, but that she would be face-to-face with Cyborg inside the Bellator cage that same night.

"The whole camp I was, like, in my mind I was envisioning facing off against Cyborg in the cage," McCourt said. "I was really believing that that was going to happen that night. After I won, I went to [Bellator executive Mike] Kogan, 'Can I get in when she wins?' He was like, 'Yeah, OK.' That photo is just what I had in my head the whole camp. Just to get to this point in my career is unbelievable."

"Totally surreal," McCourt added when asked about how it actually felt to be standing across from Cyborg. "Just where I come from and just everything I've been through to get to that moment, it was unbelievable."

Unfortunately for McCourt and Cyborg, any plans either of them might have for the fight are contingent on whether Bellator is even still around in a few months. The long-running promotion has an event booked for Nov. 17 in Chicago, but a sale could put it and any future events in jeopardy.

It's the impact that Bellator shuttering its doors will have on its day-to-day employees that has McCourt most distressed.

"When I signed to Bellator, I was living in my mom's house and me and [my daughter] Isabella were in the same room," McCourt said. "We had nothing, and then it's like, where this company has taken me and the opportunities it's given me, and I've been all around the world fighting — definitely, if it does come to an end, it will be so sad and so heartbreaking.

"Mike [Kogan] has changed so many people's lives and he's such a good human, and if we're not going to continue, I'll be devastated. I can't say enough good things about the people here and how great they are."