James Gallagher pictured at this afternoon's Bellator 217 media event. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
THIS WEEKEND’S RETURN of US-based mixed martial arts promotion Bellator to Irish shores will be headlined by James Gallagher’s bid to rebound successfully from the first defeat of his professional career.
Gallagher (7-1) will take on American opponent Steven Graham (6-3) in a bantamweight bout, which will serve as the main event at Bellator 217 at Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night.
Fighters from the Straight Blast Gym camp will feature in each of the four bouts on the main card, which will be televised live on Sky Sports Action from 9pm.
There’s also plenty of proven calibre on the prelims, particularly in the lightweight bout between former UFC signee Paul Redmond (14-8) and English veteran Charlie Leary (15-9-1) — a surprising omission from the Sky Sports portion of the bill.
Paul Redmond on his way to victory against Rob Sinclair at the 3Arena in July 2017. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
The main card will kick off with the meeting of Polish featherweight Adam Gustab (3-3) and SBG product Richie Smullen (3-1-1). The Wicklow native will be fighting for the first time since his bid to earn a long-term UFC contract ended with a first-round submission defeat to Luis Pena last July on The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale.
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Undefeated welterweight Kiefer Crosbie (5-0) will be the next Irishman to enter the cage. Crosbie, who made a successful Bellator debut at the expense of Orlando D’Ambrosio in Italy back in December, also has Polish opposition in the shape of Daniel Olejniczak (3-2-1).
The penultimate bout of the night is a lightweight grudge match between SBG’s Peter Queally (11-4-1) and Myles Price (10-7) of Team Ryano in Finglas. The animosity between the pair intensified when Price trained alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov last year in the build-up to the UFC lightweight champion’s win over Queally’s team-mate Conor McGregor.
“One of the worst things you can be in life is a rat,” Queally tweeted after the fight was announced. “The only thing worse is being a rat that betrayed his country. This next one is for all of us.”
Myles Price and Peter Queally pictured this afternoon. INPHO / Ryan Byrne
INPHO / Ryan Byrne / Ryan Byrne
Meanwhile, James Gallagher is determined to ensure that his first taste of defeat will go down as a valuable lesson learned as he gets set to clash with Steven Graham at the top of the bill.
Following his first-round knockout loss to Ricky Bandejas back in August, the 22-year-old Strabane native is eagerly looking forward to this weekend’s return to action.
Steven Graham, an American Top Team product who’s on a five-fight win streak, will be making his Bellator debut when he shares the cage with Gallagher.
“I’m the main attraction,” Gallagher told The42 recently. “People like what I bring to the table. Especially coming off the loss, a lot of people put me down. A lot of people have stuck with me though.
“When I quit school at 15, from the start I knew I could be the best. Even though I lost my last fight, it was the best thing that could ever happen to me. It’s going to take me to the next level.”
Kansas City native Steven Graham, who faces James Gallagher at the 3Arena on Saturday night. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Bellator 217 (Saturday, 23 February)
Main card (9pm, Sky Sports Action)
James Gallagher vs. Steven Graham
Peter Queally vs. Myles Price
Kiefer Crosbie vs. Daniel Olejniczak
Richie Smullen vs. Adam Gustab
Preliminary card (5pm, Bellator mobile app)
Charlie Ward vs. Jamie Stephenson
Paul Redmond vs. Charlie Leary
Richard Kiely vs. Mickael Bucher
Walter Gahadza vs. Ruben Crawford
Ryan Curtis vs. Luis Gonzalez
Olga Rubin vs. Iony Razafiarison
Will Fleury vs. Shaun Taylor
Alfie Davies vs. Daniele Scatizzi
Sam Slater vs. Chris Duncan
Leah McCourt vs. Hatice Ozyurt
Dylan Logan vs. Andrew Murphy
Ian Cleary vs. George Courtney (non-televised)
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Big weekend for Irish MMA as Sky Sports broadcast Bellator card live from Dublin
THIS WEEKEND’S RETURN of US-based mixed martial arts promotion Bellator to Irish shores will be headlined by James Gallagher’s bid to rebound successfully from the first defeat of his professional career.
Gallagher (7-1) will take on American opponent Steven Graham (6-3) in a bantamweight bout, which will serve as the main event at Bellator 217 at Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night.
Fighters from the Straight Blast Gym camp will feature in each of the four bouts on the main card, which will be televised live on Sky Sports Action from 9pm.
There’s also plenty of proven calibre on the prelims, particularly in the lightweight bout between former UFC signee Paul Redmond (14-8) and English veteran Charlie Leary (15-9-1) — a surprising omission from the Sky Sports portion of the bill.
The main card will kick off with the meeting of Polish featherweight Adam Gustab (3-3) and SBG product Richie Smullen (3-1-1). The Wicklow native will be fighting for the first time since his bid to earn a long-term UFC contract ended with a first-round submission defeat to Luis Pena last July on The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale.
Undefeated welterweight Kiefer Crosbie (5-0) will be the next Irishman to enter the cage. Crosbie, who made a successful Bellator debut at the expense of Orlando D’Ambrosio in Italy back in December, also has Polish opposition in the shape of Daniel Olejniczak (3-2-1).
The penultimate bout of the night is a lightweight grudge match between SBG’s Peter Queally (11-4-1) and Myles Price (10-7) of Team Ryano in Finglas. The animosity between the pair intensified when Price trained alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov last year in the build-up to the UFC lightweight champion’s win over Queally’s team-mate Conor McGregor.
“One of the worst things you can be in life is a rat,” Queally tweeted after the fight was announced. “The only thing worse is being a rat that betrayed his country. This next one is for all of us.”
Meanwhile, James Gallagher is determined to ensure that his first taste of defeat will go down as a valuable lesson learned as he gets set to clash with Steven Graham at the top of the bill.
Following his first-round knockout loss to Ricky Bandejas back in August, the 22-year-old Strabane native is eagerly looking forward to this weekend’s return to action.
Steven Graham, an American Top Team product who’s on a five-fight win streak, will be making his Bellator debut when he shares the cage with Gallagher.
“I’m the main attraction,” Gallagher told The42 recently. “People like what I bring to the table. Especially coming off the loss, a lot of people put me down. A lot of people have stuck with me though.
“When I quit school at 15, from the start I knew I could be the best. Even though I lost my last fight, it was the best thing that could ever happen to me. It’s going to take me to the next level.”
Bellator 217 (Saturday, 23 February)
Main card (9pm, Sky Sports Action)
James Gallagher vs. Steven Graham
Peter Queally vs. Myles Price
Kiefer Crosbie vs. Daniel Olejniczak
Richie Smullen vs. Adam Gustab
Preliminary card (5pm, Bellator mobile app)
Charlie Ward vs. Jamie Stephenson
Paul Redmond vs. Charlie Leary
Richard Kiely vs. Mickael Bucher
Walter Gahadza vs. Ruben Crawford
Ryan Curtis vs. Luis Gonzalez
Olga Rubin vs. Iony Razafiarison
Will Fleury vs. Shaun Taylor
Alfie Davies vs. Daniele Scatizzi
Sam Slater vs. Chris Duncan
Leah McCourt vs. Hatice Ozyurt
Dylan Logan vs. Andrew Murphy
Ian Cleary vs. George Courtney (non-televised)
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
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