Gallagher’s planned bout AGAIN postponed again

JAMES Gallagher’s scheduled clash with Cal Ellenor, which was to be Bellator’s headline bout at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London, on May 16th has been postponed because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s the third time in the last nine months that a fight between the ‘Strabanimal’ and the Englishman has been called off.

Their first clash was postponed in September because of issues with Ellanor’s pre-fight brain scan. Gallagher went on to submit late replacement Roman Salazar in just 35 seconds.

Both fighters were then due to meet in a rescheduled bout in February of this year at the 3Arena in Dublin, but the Tyrone man was forced to withdraw with a back injury.

“I’m absolutely heartbroken that the show is cancelled, but I must continue,” said Gallagher.

“I’ll never stop – the work will continue and I’ll be ready for when they need me.”

Prior to defeating Salazar, which was Gallagher’s third win in a row, he defeated Jeremiah Labiano on a unanimous decision after three rounds, having finished Steven Graham in just two minutes and 31 seconds by way of rear naked choke.

That hat-trick of wins came after his one and only defeat, a shock loss to Ricky Bandejas in Sioux Falls in August
2018. Prior to that reverse, the ‘Strabanimal’ boasted a perfect record with 10 straight wins, a run he will be hoping to match and then pass when his career resumes following the end of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Bellator announced it was also forced to postpone their May shows in California as “the health and safety of our athletes, fans, partners and staff remains our top priority”.

The organisation added that it “will continue to monitor the situation closely and fully intendeds to reschedule the events as soon as possible”.