Tag: James Gallagher

Bellator Champions Series: Belfast results: Strong third round lifts Leandro Higo past James Gallagher

Leandro Higo and James Gallagher were pretty evenly matched until one of them pulled away late in their Bellator Belfast fight. 

[autotag]Leandro Higo[/autotag] and [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] were pretty evenly matched until one of them pulled away late in their Bellator Champions Series: Belfast fight.

Higo (23-6 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) used a strong third-round performance to close out a unanimous decision win over Gallagher (12-3 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) on Friday at SSE Arena. After 15 minutes, all three judges saw the fight 29-28 in Higo’s favor, which was hard to argue.

After a cautious few minutes from both men in Round 1, Higo landed the first big shot when he wobbled Gallagher with a spinning elbow with about 1:45 remaining. Higo pointed at Gallagher and then rushed in to take him down to the mat. Gallagher did his best from bottom position to try for an ankle lock, but Higo punished him with ground-and-pound to ensure the round was his.

Round 2 proved much closer as there wasn’t a ton of action, although Gallagher was beginning to find a rhythm in the striking department before Higo hit him with an inadvertent kick to the groin. After the timeout, Gallagher closed out strong in the standup.

Likely tied one round apiece, the third round was all Higo, who lifted Gallagher off his feet for huge takedown with about 2:20 remaining. From there, he controlled Gallagher on the mat and inflicted damage in the final minute with a lot of strikes. Gallagher didn’t have much of an answer at that point, which proved to be enough for Higo to get the win.

Higo now has won two fights in a row, while Gallagher failed to keep momentum in his favor following a split decision win against James Gonzalez last August.

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Up-to-the-minute BCS: Belfast results include:

  • Leandro Higo def. James Gallagher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Manoel Sousa def. Tim Wilde via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:48
  • Ciaran Clarke def. Darius Mafi submission (arm-triangle choke)
  • Alfie Davis def. Oscar Ownsworth unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Luke Trainer def. Grant Neal unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Nathan Kelly def. Vikas Singh Ruhil knockout (elbow)
  • Abraham Bably def. Isaiah Pinson unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event page for Bellator Champions Series: Belfast.

James Gallagher confirms Bellator Champions Series fight vs. Leandro Higo a title eliminator

Longtime Bellator fighter James Gallagher has sparsely competed but confirmed he’ll fight for a title should he win in Belfast.

Fight fans don’t often get to see [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] compete in the cage as much as he’d like, but he’s still inching closer to his first major promotional title opportunity.

At a Bellator Champions Series: Belfast virtual pre-fight news conference Wednesday, Gallagher (12-2) said should he defeat opponent Leandro Higo (22-6) on Friday at SSE Arena, which confirmed similar language used by the promotion when the fight was announced.

“They have told me I’ll fight for the world title when I beat Leandro this weekend,” Gallagher said. “They’ve already confirmed that to me. So it’s both. I want to get active and I want to fight for the world title.”

Gallagher and Higo were supposed to fight in March 2023, but Gallagher withdrew. It was one of his four publicly-known withdrawals since 2020.

Despite his sparse activity, Gallagher remains focused on the prize: title gold.

“I bring a mind set and a skill set that he has not faced against,” Gallagher said. “I feel he’s going to be emotional and overreact on every flinch that I make. I’m going to get him into the positions that I want and capitalize on it.”

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Over the past four years, the rivalry between Team Pitbull and SBG Ireland has been revisited. Verbal jabs have been exchanged through various interviews. Gallagher said he’ll keep his emotions at bay, regardless of the opponent.

“There’s no animosity from me ever,” Gallagher said. “It’s clear-minded, very focused and I’ve got a job at hand. The only animosity there is, is between him and him. I’m not involved in that animosity. I’m here clear-minded, very focused. I’ve put in the work. I don’t actually have much to say about him. Friday night, I’m going to go in there and show all I’ve done. I don’t need to sit here and speak about him. I don’t need to sit here and say there’s animosity or create this narrative to cover his nervous energy.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Champions Series: Belfast.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 26-March 3)

Check out the UFC, PFL and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 26-March 3.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 5-11)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 5-11.

James Gallagher vs. Jeremy Kennedy joins Bellator 302 lineup in Belfast

James Gallagher will return on home soil.

[autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] will return on home soil.

Gallagher (12-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) meets [autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] (19-3 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in a featherweight bout at Bellator 302 March 22 in Belfast in Northern Ireland at SSE Arena.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Severe MMA.

Gallagher returned for the first time since a November 2021 loss to current bantamweight champion Patchy Mix when he edged out James Gonzalez this past August at Bellator 298 – his first win since October 2020. He has won five of his past six.

Canada’s Kennedy is on a three-fight winning streak. The 31-year-old UFC alum most recently defeated Pedro Carvalho by unanimous decision at Bellator 291.

The latest Bellator 302 lineup includes:

  • Corey Anderson vs. Karl Moore – for vacant light heavyweight title
  • Leah McCourt vs. Sinead Kavanagh
  • James Gallagher vs. Jeremy Kennedy

Bellator 298’s James Gallagher would punch ‘little f*cking clown’ Danny Sabatello at 145 – if he didn’t have to listen to him

Bellator 298 winner James Gallagher would punch ‘little f*cking clown’ Danny Sabatello at featherweight if he didn’t have to listen to him.

After 21 months without action that included two fights he had to pull out of, [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] finally made the walk again Friday.

What Gallagher (12-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) got from James Gonzalez (10-7 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) was a stiff test – perhaps stiffer than he expected – but he escaped Sioux Falls, S.D., with a split decision on the main card at Bellator 198 for his first win since October 2020.

“(It was a) very hard fight – bad performance. But I did what I had to do and I won. That’s the main thing,” Gallagher said at his post-fight news conference. “I’ve got a lot to learn, a lot to grow, a lot to improve. It was a tough, tough fight, but I was calm. I won the first two rounds, and then I just coasted the last one. That’s not usually my style. I don’t fight like that, and I don’t perform like that. But, I had to do what I had to do. I came through what I had to come through. Winners f*cking win.

“It feels good. I’m back in that position no matter how it was, and that’s the beautiful thing about this game is that you can lose in spectacular fashion and blow the roof off the place, and you can win in not-so-good fashion the way I won tonight. But at the end of the day, I’m back in that position and nothing else f*cking matters. Not one thing. They tried to keep me out of this game for a long time. I’ve been battling for two years now to get back, and I’m f*cking back.”

Gallagher, a brash fighter from Dublin, said if fellow Bellator 298 winner Leandro Higo wants to fight at Bellator 299 in Dublin next month, he’s ready. Gallagher was matched up Higo with for March, but had to pull out of his second straight fight.

But one fighter he doesn’t have a lot of interest in a matchup with is Danny Sabatello. Part of the reason is because Gallagher fought Friday at featherweight after years at 135 pounds, and he doesn’t seem keen on making that cut again.

But Gallagher also said he probably wouldn’t jibe well with Sabatello’s personality.

“If he wants to come up 145, the fight’s there,” Gallagher said. “But I don’t think he’s going to do that. To be honest, I couldn’t listen to that little f*cking clown for f*cking six weeks. Man, that would be … Fighting him? No problem. Fighting him is no problem. But ‘meh meh meh meh meh meh meh meh’ – stop! That’d just give you a f*cking headache. So yeah, I’ll take the fight – but not the headache.”

Check out Gallagher’s full post-fight interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 298.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (June 26-July 2)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from June 26-July 2.

James Gallagher gets new Bellator 298 opponent after Cris Lencioni removed

After the removal of Cris Lencioni, Bellator 298 features a new matchup for James Gallagher as he fights an Aljamain Sterling teammate.

[autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] has a new Bellator 298 opponent following the removal of [autotag]Cris Lencioni[/autotag].

[autotag]James Gonzalez[/autotag], a teammate of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, has accepted the bout and will battle Gallagher in a bantamweight matchup Aug. 11 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

A promotion official with knowledge of the matchup Monday confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report by MMA Fighting.

Gonzalez (10-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), 32, is a training partner of Sterling’s at Longo and Weidman MMA in Garden City, N.Y. He steps into another opportunity as a likely underdog against a Bellator mainstay, similarly to the time he defeated then-undefeated Cody Law at Bellator 282 in June 2022.

Gallagher (11-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) , 26, has not competed since a November 2021 submission loss to Patchy Mix at Bellator 270 in his native Dublin. He pulled out of back-to-back fights due to injury prior to the Lencioni booking.

Lencioni, 28, was recently removed from the bout, as he remains in intensive care following a cardiac arrest suffered during training in early June. The most recent update posted to a GoFundMe account was from June 23. The fundraiser has raised over $27,000 for Lencioni.

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With the change, the Bellator 298 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward
  • Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
  • Aaron Jeffery vs. Dalton Rosta
  • Islam Mamedov vs. Sidney Outlaw

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, YouTube, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • James Gallagher vs. James Gonzalez
  • Weber Almeida vs. Lucas Brennan
  • Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
  • Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Alfie Davis
  • Dayana Silva vs. Katerina Shakalova
  • Jario Pacheco vs. Max Rohskopf
  • Jerrell Hodge vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva
  • Michael Blockhus vs. Eli Mefford

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 298.

Cris Lencioni officially pulled from James Gallagher fight as Bellator 298 adds five new bouts

Bellator has officially pulled Cris Lencioni from his fight with James Gallagher after he suffered cardiac arrest earlier this month.

The Bellator 298 lineup unsurprisingly has lost a fight while gaining five others.

In a press release announcing the five new bouts Thursday, Bellator also removed [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cris Lencioni[/autotag] from the lineup. While the release made no mention of Lencioni’s removal, a promotion official confirmed to MMA Junkie that he won’t compete at Bellator 298 after it was revealed last week that the 28-year-old is in intensive care following a cardiac arrest suffered in training. There haven’t been any updates on his condition since.

Bellator intends to find a replacement for Gallagher, who hasn’t competed since a submission loss to current interim bantamweight champion Patchy Mix in November 2021. Gallagher’s previous two fight bookings prior to Lencioni were canceled.

Among the five additions, flyweight [autotag]Diana Avsaragova[/autotag] will look to remain undefeated when she takes on UFC veteran Justine Kish. Avsaragova (6-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) is coming off a split decision win over Alejandra Lara in February at Bellator 290.

Below is the updated Bellator 298 lineup:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward
  • Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
  • Aaron Jeffery vs. Dalton Rosta
  • Islam Mamedov vs. Sidney Outlaw

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, YouTube, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • Weber Almeida vs. Lucas Brennan
  • Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
  • Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Alfie Davis
  • Dayana Silva vs. Katerina Shakalova
  • Jario Pacheco vs. Max Rohskopf
  • Jerrell Hodge vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva
  • Michael Blockhus vs. Eli Mefford

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 298.