Rumours have begun circulating that top European promotion Cage Warriors are in advanced talks to sign amateur mixed martial arts sensation Leah McCourt.
McCourt who recently featured in our Top 10: Amateur MMA prospects to watch out for in 2017 has amassed a 6-1 amateur record during her two and a half year career. She was crowned IMMAF European champion in 2015 and IMMAF World champion in 2016, resulting in her becoming one of the most highly touted prospects in MMA.
The fighter who hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland has claimed four stoppages victories in her last five outings finishing Sini Koivunen, Yvonne Chow, Taryn Conklin and most recently, top German amateur featherweight Julia Dorny last July at UFC International Fight Week.
MMA Plus’ Andreas Georgiou and Roberto Reid recently spoke with the Fight Academy Ireland trained athlete on the latest edition of The Mind Diet Podcast and at the 53-minute mark when asked about which promotion she would make her professional debut for, the 24-year-old was coy in giving her response.
The Mind Diet 117 – Leah McCourt ‘Gold Medal Mindset’
“Obviously two of the big promotions were very very keen to have me on and it was just about making the right decision for me. Obviously, BAMMA are coming to Belfast and were keen to have me on that show and fighting on Cage Warriors so it’s kind of between them two [as to] where I will be making my pro debut.”
To add further fuel to the fire Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan, who has a very exclusive list of the people he follows on Twitter (80 to be exact), recently followed the 2016 IBJJF World Championships gold medallist and as a result, the rumours have now intensified.
If the signings of McCourt’s teammates Joe McColgan and Karl Moore to Cage Warriors are also something to go by, it is that she could soon be joining them on the CW roster.
With shows in Dublin, Liverpool, Wales (location TBA) and London looming large on the horizon fans of the pride of Belfast could see her making her professional debut sooner rather than later.
We reached out to Cage Warriors for comment but at the time of writing, we have yet to receive an official response. We will bring you news on this developing story as we get it.
