"She may have only needed 10 walks to the cage as a pro, but ex- Invicta Fighting Championships queen Jillian DeCoursey made them count. On her social media on Thursday, DeCoursey announced her retirement from MMA competition. The 41-year-old atomweight had flirted with returning after dropping her belt in 2023 to Rayanne dos Santos, but efforts never materialized. A veteran of only Invicta and Cage Warriors Fighting Championship for the entirety of her pro career, she won a belt with the former"
"The fighter known by many fight names including "Jilly Bean," "Lionheart" and jokingly by ones like "Cool American" and "Medium Rare and Pepper Crusted" won her first two outings on the Invicta FC cage. The then-unbeaten athlete faced off against future champ Alesha Zappitella in 2018. A pattern emerged for the remainder of her career, where she would win two and then lose the next match."
"Everything came to a head when DeCoursey punched out former foe VanZandt in 61 seconds at Invicta FC 47 in 2022. This placed the atomweight in contention for a championship opportunity, and she won it four-plus months later by tapping Jessica Delboni to account for her sole submission victory as a pro."
Jillian DeCoursey began as an amateur in 2014 and compiled eight wins and one loss before turning professional in 2017. The Long Island fighter competed exclusively in Invicta FC and Cage Warriors, winning an Invicta atomweight title and challenging for a Cage Warriors belt. DeCoursey built a career pattern of winning two fights then losing the next, and she recorded a notable 61-second knockout of Lindsey VanZandt in 2022. She tapped Jessica Delboni to capture the Invicta championship and officially announced retirement at age 41 after considering a return following her 2023 title loss.
Read at Sherdog
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