James Gallagher, 4-0 under the Bellator banner as featherweight, will make his 135-pound debut at the promotion’s August 17 event in South Dakota.
The undefeated SBG Ireland product will face debutant Ricky Bandejas (10-1) at the Bellator 204 event, as confirmed by MMA Fighting following an initial report by Sanford Pentagon, in what will be Gallagher’s first content in more than a year. His last performance, a first round submission of Chinzo Machida, was one of the highlights of Bellator’s first-ever event in Madison Square Garden last summer.
Gallagher was slated to return in the main event of Bellator: Dublin late last year opposite Jeremiah Labiano but was forced off the card after suffering a knee injury in preparation.
Since debuting with the company two years ago, Gallagher has earned successive wins against Mike Cutting, Anthony Taylor, Kirill Medvedovsky and Machida to take his professional record to 7-0.
Bandejas, meanwhile, has fought all 11 of his professional bouts for Cage Fury Fighting Championships where he was won all but one – a first round submission defeat to UFC vet Nick Pace three years ago.
Five of Gallagher’s six career finishes have come by way of first round submissions.
