Fight Facts: Bellator Champions Series London ‘McCourt vs. Collins’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,465
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 309

Rather than go directly head-to-head with the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, Bellator MMA instead served up an overseas appetizer. No belt was on the line, but Bellator London featured a nervous new contender for the throne of Cris Cyborg, a British skyscraper justifying massive odds in his favor and another victory for the man known as “Seabass.”

Dwindling: With nine bouts on the docket, Bellator Champions Series London clocks in with the fewest scheduled bouts on a full event since Bellator 294 in 2023, which was part of a doubleheader in Hawaii.

Judo Chop: Boosting her record to a perfect 6-0, Sara Collins tapped Leah McCourt in the main attraction. The Aussie has alternated wins on the scorecards with tapouts on her ledger thus far.

McCourt Is in Session: In a losing effort, McCourt appeared for the 10th time under the Bellator banner. She ties Julia Budd for the second-most bouts in the women’s 145-pound category, with Arlene Blencowe’s 14 atop the leaderboard.

Javert, C’est Moi: Professional Fighters League vet Simeon Powell crossed over to win a close decision over Rafael Xavier. The victory saw the 25-year-old’s finish rate fall to 70%, with his last two wins accounting for two of his three triumphs via decision.

Passed Training Day: Tearing through Laurynas Urbonavicius, Luke Trainer picked up another win via rear-naked choke. Now sporting a finish rate of 89%, all five of his submission wins have come from this maneuver.

There Are Others: Marc Diakiese left the UFC having won his last match, shipping over to the Bellator ranks after 15 bouts under the UFC banner. He is one of the most tenured competitors to switch over, joining names like Tito Ortiz (27 fights), Frank Mir (27 fights), Lyoto Machida (24 fights), Ryan Bader (20 fights) and Cheick Kongo (16 fights) along with Corey Anderson (15 fights), Marcus Davis (15 fights) and Stephan Bonnar (15 fights).

Bonebruiser: Diakiese needed all three rounds to get past Tim Wilde in his Bellator debut. The 31-year-old named “Bonecrusher” has not earned a stoppage since he sparked Teemu Packalen with one punch in March 2017, a span of 13 fights.

The Young King Rises: “King” Archie Colgan surpassed Manoel Sousa in their battle of the unbeaten, earning the nod on all three scorecards. The Colorado native has picked up his last four wins on the scorecards, accounting for four of his five decision victories.

Way to Go, Seabass: Clobbering Eslam Abdul Baset Syaha with a knee and follow-up punches, Mike Shipman procured the second-round stoppage. “Seabass” has claimed 15 of his 17 pro wins inside the distance.

Catching Snakes: Joseph Luciano made his successful organizational debut by hitting an anaconda choke on Steven Hill. With the bout taking place at a pre-planned catchweight of 175 pounds, five of the 14 anaconda chokes in Bellator history have come outside of standard weight categories.

A Little SBG Matchmaking Magic: Moving to 10-0 with a decision win over late replacement Tuomas Gronvall, all 10 of Ciaran Clarke’s appearances and victories have come in the Bellator cage. The Irishman has fought beyond the first round in nine of those outings.

Cast from a Similar Mold: Clarke’s teammate Darragh Kelly also emerged victorious, pulling off a decision and mild upset over Dmytrii Hrytsenko. Similar to Clarke, other than a pair of first-round guillotines, the unbeaten man from Moville, Ireland, has at least fought into Round 2 in his fights.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into BCS London, McCourt (11 fights) and Hill (eight fights) had never been submitted, Wilde had never lost on the scorecards (23 fights) and Sousa (11 fights) and Hrytsenko (nine fights) had never been defeated.