Bellator bantamweight James Gallagher is set to return to the cage in March, it has been announced.
Gallagher, 26, has been absent from the cage since a submission loss to Patchy Mix in Dublin in November 2021 and was soon after forced to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Wales’ Brett Johns which was due to take place in the second half of 2022 — but his much-anticipated return will now comes at Bellator 292 against Leandro Higo.
Injury also removed Gallagher from Bellator’s bantamweight Grand Prix.
The 135-pound fight will take place on March 10 in San Jose, California on a card set to be headlined by a lightweight title match between Usman Nurmagomedov and former UFC champion Benson Henderson which comes as part of the organisation’s 155-pound Grand Prix.
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Prior to his defeat against Mix, Gallagher had won four straight fights in the Bellator cage, with only Jeremiah Labiano lasting until the final bell.
Higo, meanwhile, is 21-6 as a professional, with 12 of those wins coming by way of submission. He has gone 4-4 in Bellator since inking a deal with them in 2017, scoring notable wins against Ricky Bandejas and Darrion Caldwell (whom he also holds a loss to) while dropping bouts against Aaron Pico, Eduardo Dantas and, last June, Danny Sabatello.
Bellator 292 comes two weeks after the promotion’s return to Dublin on February 25 which will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between the unbeaten 26-0 champion Yaroslav Amosov and Logan Storley. Peter ‘The Showstopper’ Queally fights Bryce Logan in the co-main event inside what will be a raucous 3Arena in Dublin’s docklands.
