Bellator star Jessica Borga turned down WWE offer to pursue MMA career

Borga was brought in as an extra to appear in a Monday Night RAW segment with fellow MMA fighter Bobby Lashley – and did enough to be asked back – but opted to focus on fighting

Bellator 267 co-main event star Jessica Borga was offered a chance to appear on WWE but turned down professional wrestling to focus on her fighting career.

And it appears that the decision is beginning to pay off, with the American earning a spot in a big fight on Bellator’s return to London against top featherweight Leah McCourt.

Borga, who holds a 3-3 professional MMA record, including a win and a loss in the promotion, appeared on an episode of Monday Night RAW with fellow fighter Bobby Lashley earlier this year.

But when the professional wrestling company offered her another opportunity to make an appearance with Lashley, she turned it down, telling Mirror Fighting that she wanted to put her combat sports career first.

“Honestly, it was just a fun little thing that happened on the side,” she explained.

“I have a friend who’s big on the media side within the WWE and Bobby Lashley needed some girls, which is not my normal character I guess you could say.

“So I thought it’d be a fun little thing to do on the side, and it was a great opportunity as well.

“They wanted me back, but I didn’t want to do that; fighting first and everything, but it was a fun little side thing.”

Borga’s main job is competing as a featherweight MMA fighter, where she could earn a massive career boost by beating McCourt at the SSE Arena, Wembley on Friday night.

To do that, she’ll need to avoid the Irish fighter’s impressive ground game, and will likely have to push the pace early on McCourt to make it an awkward fight.

She enters the cage as a considerable underdog, but says that she isn’t concerned about the opinions of anybody other than her corner.

“I have nothing to lose,” she explained. “Every time I fight, I try my hardest and put everything on the line.

“She [McCourt] has posted some stuff on social media that was disrespectful, and I look forward to making her pay for that.

“I always respect my opponent, but I plan on defeating her Friday night.

“Being the underdog doesn’t faze me at all. I have been the underdog my whole career and have overcome it every time.

“I am used to fighting people expecting to beat me. I have actually started feeding off that.

“I am going to come out ready and push the pace. I plan to be fast, accurate and smart.”

Who will win the Bellator 267 co-main event, Leah McCourt or Jessica Borga? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

During her time in London, Borga managed to meet with boxing legend Roy Jones Jr, who is in town to corner Chris Eubank Jr in his bout against Anatoli Muratov.

And she says that Jones gave her some advice for Friday night and may be in attendance at the Bellator show.

“He’s amazing, he’s so humble,” Borga said of her meeting with Jones.

“He told me to showcase, he’s excited to see and I’m hoping that he’s going to be in the crowd.”

Tickets for Bellator London: Lima vs MVP 2 are on sale now and can be purchased online from axs.com/uk or bellator.com.

Watch Bellator London: Lima vs MVP 2 live on BBC iPlayer on Friday 1st October from 9pm.