Leah McCourt stormed to a dominant decision victory in the main event of Bellator Dublin in the 3Arena on Saturday night.
The Belfast woman recorded the impressive win over Judith Ruis in a largely lopsided contest.
McCourt miraculously managed to survive a deep armbar attempt from the German in the first round, and went on to comprehensively out-grapple her smaller opponent.
Earlier in the night Constantin Blanita kicked the event off with an impressive decision win over Asael Adjoudj, while Drogheda native Ciaran Clarke was the first to provoke a big reaction from the Irish crowd with a battling and ultimately dominant victory over England’s Jamie Faulding.
Blaine O’Driscoll saw off experienced French fighter Ezzoubair Bouarsa with a devastating flurry of punches to record the first knockout finish of the night.
Scotland’s Calum Murrie was the first to upset the home crowd with a rear naked choke victory over SBG’s Dylan “Logy Bear” Logan.
And there was more Scottish success in the very next bout as Chris Duncan took out Mateusz “Juhas” Piskorz with a punishing display of striking.
Tipperary man Will Fleury is always a big crowd favourite when Bellator comes to Dublin, and the SBG fighter didn’t disappoint in his middleweight match-up with Justin Moore. Fleury stunned the Englishman early and went on to earn a first-round finish with a beautifully worked arm triangle.
Arklow’s Richie Smullen lost a close decision to Brazilian Alberth Dias, while Danni Neilan triumphed over Chiara Penco via unanimous decision in just her second pro fight.
Dubliner Paul Redmond was also unable to feed off the electric energy from his home crowd as he was submitted by Georgi Karakhanyan.
And there was more disappointment for the homegrown fighters when Richard Kiely failed to land a meaningful blow in his clash with Englishman George Hardwick, ultimately tapping to a tight mounted guillotine in round 2.
Sweden’s Oliver Enkamp kicked off the televised card and stunned the crowd with a spectacular spinning backfist knockout on veteran Welsh fighter Lewis Long.
There was huge frustration for Frans “The Black Mamba” Mlambo, who started strong in his bout with Ricky Bandejas, but was caught by the American and saw the fight waved off – despite his protests.
Bandejas will be best known to Irish audiences for his spectacular knockout victory over James Gallagher in 2018, and Gallagher was in the 3Arena to support his SBG teammates.
The “Strabanimal” is scheduled to fight Cal Ellenor in London in May, and there was one tense encounter in the crowd that saw Gallagher strut past his future opponent– only for him to be blanked by the Englishman.
Australian Bec Rawlings had a point to prove after five straight losses, but Elina Kallionidou proved another tough opponent, stinging the Australian with numerous heavy punches.
But the Australian managed to bring the fight to the ground and impressed the judges with her top control, ultimately winning a unanimous decision victory.
Kiefer Crosbie’s clash with Iamik “The African Lion” Furtado brought the biggest crowd reaction of the night, with thousands in the 3Arena cheering every move of the charismatic Dublin fighter.
Crosbie initially struggled with the quick, straight punches of Furtado, but the SBG man came out far stronger in the third and ended the final round with flurry of hard shots. Ultimately his efforts were enough to secure a razor-thin split decision victory.
American Brent Primus took on Chris Bungard in the main event of the US TV card, but it was over almost as soon as it began. Primus shot for a quick takedown and had little trouble passing the guard and taking mount, forcing Bungard to give up his back before locking in a tight rear naked choke.
Geordie Shore’s Aaron Chalmers kicked off the Channel 5 TV card against American Austin Clem, but the reality TV star was unable to mount any meaningful offence throughout the three-round fight, losing a lopsided decision.
Laois man Charlie Ward was able to see off Kyle Kurtz in a dominant, one-sided TKO victory. The SBG fighter wore the American down over the first two rounds, ultimately forcing the referee to step in midway through the third.
And in the final bout of the night, Leah McCourt took her unexpected main event opportunity as she cruised to a comprehensive victory over Judith Ruis.
