James Gallagher wasn’t short on potential replacement opponents for his next bout, but Bellator has settled on one.
Gallagher was scheduled to meet Cal Ellenor in the main event of Bellator Dublin on Sept. 27. Those plans went awry when Ellenor was forced to pull out due to medical issues as first reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. Many fighters took to social media to call out Gallagher, but it’s a former UFC fighter who got the nod.
MMAFighting.com was able to confirm with Bellator officials that Gallagher’s replacement opponent will be Roman Salazar. You may recall that Salazar competed in the UFC’s bantamweight division. He went 0-2, 1 NC under the UFC banner. Recently, Salazar has been seen competing for Combate Americas and LFA.
Gallagher has been trying to surge following a first-round knockout loss to Ricky Bandejas back in Aug. 2018. Since that defeat, he’s gone 2-0 with a submission victory over Steven Graham and a unanimous decision against Jeremiah Labiano.
Salazar is 1-1 in 2019 and he’d like to pick up the upset win over Gallagher on a big stage. This will be Salazar’s Bellator debut.
MMA News will be providing live coverage of Bellator Dublin. Be sure to stick with us on Sept. 27 for live results, highlights, and post-fight tidbits.
