Inspired by Ronda Rousey, judoka Sara Collins loving life in MMA before first Bellator headliner

09/11/2024 01:00 PM

Sara Collins sat and watched the fights at Etihad Arena, though she couldn’t really see them directly and had to watch on the large hanging screens instead.

On the night of Nov. 14, 2015 (or the day of Nov. 15 in Australia), Collins watched UFC 193 play out, seated among the 56,213 others in attendance.

Collins was strictly a judoka at the time. She hadn’t trained at all for her MMA career. She was in attendance to support teammate (and future MMA coach) Daniel Kelly, who defeated Steve Montgomery on the event’s undercard in Melbourne.

Kelly wasn’t the only judoka on the card, of course. Ronda Rousey headlined the event and was knocked out by Holly Holm in one of the most legendary moments in UFC history.

“I just remember I was just a really big fan of Ronda,” Collins recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “She used our gym to train at leading up to that fight, so I was just really heartbroken for her when she lost, more so.”

Despite seeing a hero fall, Collins was further inspired to take up MMA. A practitioner since age seven, Collins competed internationally in judo but never quite reached the point of medaling. Injuries made her journey bump and ultimately pushed her down the MMA path in full force.

“I’ve had three surgeries on my knee and a snapped Achilles that I had to have surgically repaired,” Collins said. “All of them come with long rehab times. They probably have slowed down my career, but I’m still walking. So as long as I can walk, I can fight.”

Since her professional debut in 2019, Collins has yet to lose – though only competing five times in those five years. Now 34, her consistent success has landed her a major promotional headliner as Collins (5-0) fights Leah McCourt (8-3) in the Bellator Champions Series main event Saturday at OVO Wembley Arena in London.

“I feel like I am more experienced than my record shows just because I haven’t had the opportunity to fight more than once a year, which is nothing,” Collins said. “I am ready. I’ve done a lot of work, especially in the last two years, to round out my game. I hope that shows in this next fight.”

Collins is coming off consecutive wins over veterans Sinead Kavanagh and Pam Sorenson. Despite her late entry into MMA, Collins is finding success – much like her coach Kelly did many years ago. Kelly debuted in the UFC at age 37, yet went 6-4 in the promotion with wins over the likes of Rashad Evans and Antonio Carlos Junior, among others.

“He had 10 fights in the UFC,” Collins said. “He started as a judoka and then went into MMA quite late in his career. I feel like because he’s my main coach, he’s trying to get me to do what he did and get the judo working in MMA fights like he did. That’s probably the fighter I try to imitate the most.”

The Bellator brand’s future is uncertain following the PFL’s acquisition of the promotion. McCourt was penciled in to fight women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg prior to the acquisition and subsequent “super fight” booking vs. multitime PFL champion Larissa Pacheco.

One way or another, a win over McCourt will push Collins’ stock up to new levels.

“I haven’t been told anything so far about my next fight, so full concentration is on this fight,” Collins said. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with the next fight after this one. … I would love to fight again before the year is finished, just so I can get two fights in this year. If this is against the winner of Cris and Larissa, I’m happy to fight one of them. I think it’s awesome. But any fight before the end of the year after this one would be good as well.