It was far from a straightforward 36 hours for Leah McCourt.
McCourt was left to wait to learn if her Bellator debut would even take place when opponent Hatice Ozyurt failed to show up within the two hour weigh-in window on Friday morning.
A regulation anomaly meant that Ozyurt was forced to undergo a last-minute head scan, denying her the opportunity to complete her cut to 145lbs.
When Ozyurt eventually made it to the scales, she came in at 148lbs and was fined 20 per cent of her fight purse for missing weight.
Belfast’s McCourt, meanwhile, looked incredible at a lean 146lbs and she looked even better when she got inside the Bellator cage.
👊🇮🇪@LeahMcCourtMMA comes away with the W at #BellatorDublin in her Bellator Debut.
Catch all the #Bellator217 prelim action LIVE now on our app 📲 https://t.co/HWRv6qdpna pic.twitter.com/1HXXSpgAqr
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 23, 2019
A dominant opening round saw McCourt almost finish twice with ground and pound from mount, as well as come close with an armbar, but credit to Ozyurt as she saw out a rough five minutes.
The Turkish fighter was prepared to come back out for the second round but the cage-side doctor took one look at Ozyurt and wasn’t having it, refusing to let her sustain any unnecessary damage.
McCourt, one of Owen Roddy’s top fighters at SBG Charlestown is now 2-1 as a pro, and certainly justified the faith shown in her by Bellator MMA.
