Northern Ireland’s Leah McCourt had to work for it, but the Belfast native scored an emotional victory over Germany’s Judith Ruis at Bellator Europe 7.

After three hard-fought rounds at Dublin’s 3Arena, McCourt (4-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) took a unanimous decision on scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.

Early on, McCourt  looked to find her range with leg kicks and push kicks to the body of the shorter Ruis (6-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), who tried in vain to step into punching range and head-hunt.

But when the pair locked up against the fence, it was McCourt whose size, strength and grappling advantage proved decisive, as she won the majority of the exchanges against the cage and bossed the action on the mat.

In all three rounds, McCourt utilized judo trips to take her opponent to the canvas, as she dominated from top position on the ground. If anything, her keenness to find a better situation cost her solid positioning at times, as she returned to her feet and reassessed before going back to the mat again.

Ruis doggedly battled off her back, and midway through the opening round looked close to locking up an armbar on the former IMMAF world amateur champion. But with the crowd anxiously reacting to the sight, McCourt stayed calm and maneuvered her way out of the hold to finish the round in mount.

The pair traded shots at the start of Round 2 before Ruis initiated the clinch against the fence once again, but another judo toss from McCourt sent her opponent to the mat. This time, the Belfast native landed in mount, then ended up on Ruis’ back, and she locked up a body triangle and looked to work a submission on Ruis, who doggedly managed to reverse position and finish in guard.

Despite being on her back, McCourt threatened briefly with a triangle choke, then a Kimura as she stayed active from the bottom, while Ruis looked to land strikes from top position as the round came to a close.

McCourt landed a quick takedown at the start of Round 3 as she quickly established top position on Ruis. Twice she stood back up to find a better position before going back to the mat, where she maintained top position and connected with a succession of elbows and punches. Ruis gamely scrambled her way back to her feet, but McCourt dragged her straight back to the canvas once again as she finished the fight on top.

McCourt’s victory was her third as a Bellator fighter – as well as her third win inside the 3Arena.

“She was tough,” McCourt said after the fight. “Her grappling defense and reactions were good on the ground, she getting a wee bit ahead of me when I was trying to take her down.”

She also admitted that handling the motions of the main event spotlight was a tough task during a whirlwind fight week in Dublin.

“Honestly, it’s been intense,” she said. “Every emotion under the sun. Crying one minute, happy the next, but I’m ecstatic to get in here and get the job done.”

Ward’s ‘Relentless’ attack brings late finish

In the night’s co-main event, Charlie Ward used his physical strength to bully America’s Kyle Kurtz before eventually bludgeoning his way to a TKO victory at 4:24 of the third round.

After taking his time to eye up his opponent, Ward (8-4 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) stepped across the cage and shoved Kurtz (10-8 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) against the fence. The barrel-chested Dubliner weighed heavy on the American and connected with some solid punches from the clinch, then dragged his man to the mat and landed in guard. With his opponent’s shoulders pinned to the mat, Ward postured up and landed a succession of piston-like left hands.

It was a case of rinse and repeat in Round 2 as Ward once again closed distance on his opponent, then dragged him down to the mat and connected with ground strikes. Kurtz managed to battle his way back to his feet, but Ward stayed stuck to him like glue and soon had “The Hurtz” back down on the mat once again, where he administered another dose of heavy-handed ground and pound.

Kurtz went for broke at the start of the third round. First he swung for the fences, then launched a flying knee in Ward’s direction. But the SBG fighter easily evaded it and wrapped up the American against the fence before taking him down the canvas once more.

“Relentless” served up another portion of ground and pound. Then, after Kurtz fought his way back to his feet, he continued his attack with a plethora of left hands from the clinch as he maintained control and bloodied his opponent’s face with repeated left hands that eventually forced referee Leon Roberts to pause the action to allow the doctor to check the American’s wounds.

The physician gave Kurtz the thumbs-up to continue, but it was only a temporary reprieve, as Ward resumed his barrage from the clinch as he kept his main pinned to the fence and hammered him with heavy lefts until Roberts mercifully waved off the fight with 36 seconds remaining.

Clem’s ground game proves too strong for Chalmers

Aaron Chalmers’ MMA education continued under the bright lights of the Bellator cage as he suffered a lopsided decision defeat to debuting American grappler Austin Clem.

Chalmers (5-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) had success with his strikes, particularly his leg kicks, early on. But in each of the three rounds Clem (4-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was able to close the distance and drag the Englishman to the mat.

Once Clem had his man down on the canvas, Chalmers was unable to fight his way back to his feet as “The King” maintained top position with relative ease, including two long spells in full mount in Rounds 2 and 3. The Missouri native looked comfortable in top position, but never seriously threatened with a submission attempt or a concerted effort to finish the fight with strikes.

Clem’s conservative approach from the top, coupled with Chalmers’ inability to work his way back to his feet, meant the bout descended into a slow-paced matchup that left the Dublin crowd frustrated as Clem rode out the three rounds to earn a landslide decision win with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.

Official Europe 7 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Leah McCourt def. Judith Ruis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Charlie Ward def. Kyle Kurtz via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:24
• Austin Clem def. Aaron Chalmers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Ilias Bulaid def. Diego Freitas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• George Hardwick def. Richard Kiely via submission (mounted guillotine) – Round 2, 3:40
• Georgi Karakhanyan def. Paul Redmond via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
• Danni Neilan def. Chiara Penco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Alberth Dias def. Richie Smullen via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Will Fleury def. Justin Moore via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:14
• Chris Duncan def. Mateusz Piskorz via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:43
• Calum Murrie def. Dylan Logan via submission (rear-naked choke) –  Round 1, 4:02
• Blaine O’Driscoll def. Ezzoubair Bouarsa via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:12
• Ciaran Clarke def. Jamie Faulding via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
• Constantin Blanita def. Asael Adjoudj via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)