Injuries suffered in sparring have forced Leah
McCourt to pull out of a proposed featherweight clash against
Sinead
Kavanagh at
Bellator 302.
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McCourt announced the news Tuesday in a post on social media.
McCourt vs. Kavanagh was scheduled to be the Bellator 302 co-main
event. It’s currently unknown if Kavanagh will remain on the March
22 card against a replacement opponent.
“Devastated to have to write this and let you know during a
sparring accident, I sustained a broken rib and torn oblique. I
cannot get medically cleared to fight nor could I physically be
able to fight in Belfast. This may require surgery and will know
more in the next few weeks,” McCourt wrote.”The muscle has been
ripped from the bone and the pain is excruciating. When I didn’t
get the title fight, I asked what fight wanted, it was this so
especially disappointed.
“I don’t understand the heartbreak and pain of circumstances of
everything that’s happened so far this year, but I trust God’s plan
that all these things are part of something big and better ahead. I
have fought with torn ligaments, blown out knees, everything, and
this is the first time an injury has been too serious to be able to
fight, as I [was] warned the break could puncture an organ if I
don’t do as [the] surgeon has requested and have total rest. I will
do everything I can to return as soon as possible.”
— Leah McCourt (@leahmccourtmma)
February 20, 2024
McCourt and Kavanagh first fought at Bellator 275, with Kavanagh
winning a unanimous decision in February 2022. The 31-year-old
McCourt, who hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland, is coming off a
first-round TKO of former UFC bantamweight title challenger
Sara
McMann at Bellator 300 this past October.
Bellator 302 takes place at SSE Arena in Belfast and is headlined
by a light heavyweight championship bout between Corey
Anderson and Karl
Moore.