SBG Ireland are on to something good with James Gallagher as the young grappler notched up yet another first-round submission finish in his second main event matchup for Bellator. The Bantamweight competitor has been working his way up the rankings for the American promotion ever since signing for them back in 2016 as a teenager with a 3-0 record on the regional circuit. Now, he stands at the very top of the division with an 11-1 record that includes nine submission finishes and seven of them coming by way of Rear-Naked Choke.
He got the finish in the first round against Cal Ellenor in a fashion that’s become pretty much synonymous with James Gallagher during his time under the Bellator banner. As his opponent attempted to stand, he charged forward and took a seatbelt grip to pull off a lovely rolling backtake. In fairness, Ellenor defended very well by first getting to the cage to try and stand up, then by managing to handfight his way out of the gable-grip variation of the choke. This wasn’t quite enough however, as once Gallagher gets to a dominant position on his opponent’s back it’s usually only a matter of time before he gets the finish.
7️⃣ RNC’s for The Strabanimal!@StrabanimalMMA gets another first round submission victory at #BellatorMilan! pic.twitter.com/ONtnB3Wjby
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 3, 2020
As a training partner of the infamous Conor McGregor, Gallagher is no stranger to the art of self-promotion and he decided to use his post-fight interview as his opportunity to call for a title shot. The Bellator Bantamweight title was vacated by Kyoji Horiguchi due to an injury and then was awarded again very recently, when Juan Archuleta defeated Patchy Mix at Bellator 246.
"Get me anyone, everyone, and a big bag of money…I'll fight any f*cking one of them.
Gimme. That. Belt."@StrabanimalMMA did not mince words at #BellatorMilan. pic.twitter.com/nygWqlmy1z— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 3, 2020
Bellator Milan 3: James Gallagher v Cal Ellenor Full Results
James Gallagher defeats Cal Ellenor via Submission – Rear Naked Choke, Rd 1, 4:31.
Charlie Ward defeats Andy Manzolo via Unanimous Decision.
Charlie Leary defeats Kiefer Crosbie via TKO – Doctor Stoppage, Rd 1, 5:00.
Sinead Kavanagh defeats Katharina Lehner via Unanimous Decision.
Aymard Guih defeats Chris Bungard via Split Decision.
Acoidan Duque defeats Carlo Pedersoli Jr. via Unanimous Decision.
Gokhan Saricam defeats Joffie Houlton via TKO – Ground and Pound.
Andrew Fisher defeats Ashleigh Grimshaw via Unanimous Decision.
Kane Mousah defeats Alessandro Botti via Split Decision.
Asaël Adjoudj defeats Nathan Jessimer via TKO – Ground and Pound.
Marek Jakimowicz defeats Curtis Dodge via TKO – Ground and Pound.
