James Gallagher’s fans can rest easy. Their man will be in action in his hometown next week at Bellator Europe 4.
Gallagher’s original opponent, England’s Cal Ellenor, was forced off the card because of medical issues, leaving the local Irish star without an opponent for the main event Sept. 27 at 3Arena in Dublin.
But Bellator officials have moved swiftly and booked former UFC bantamweight Roman Salazar, who has agreed to step in and face Gallagher (9-1 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) in a 140-pound catchweight bout. The matchup originally was reported by MMA Fighting and subsequently confirmed to MMA Junkie by Bellator officials.
Salazar (13-9 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) previously had three fights in the UFC in 2014 and 2015, with submission losses to Mitch Gagnon and Marlon Vera sandwiching a no contest against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.
More recently, Salazar captured the featherweight title for Phoenix-based regional promotion Iron Boy MMA, then dropped a split decision to Brazilian Mario Israel at LFA 72 in July.
Gallagher was left without an opponent after Ellenor was pulled from the card for medical reasons earlier this week. The Sunderland native subsequently released an Instagram video explaining his situation, which stemmed from issues discovered during a routine pre-fight brain screening.
The Bellator Europe 4 card now includes:
- James Gallagher vs. Roman Salazar – 140-pound catchweight
- Richard Kiely vs. Michael Page
- Peter Queally vs. Ryan Scope
