James Gallagher has an opponent for his first official main event for Bellator.
With a perfect record of 7-0 in his professional career, and four of those wins coming under the Bellator banner, the 20-year-old Strabane native will next face Jeremiah Labiano in what will serve as the featured attraction of Bellator’s latest sojourn to the Irish capital.
The 11-5 Californian native has won two straight bouts, with one of those being a unanimous decision against Vince Murdock in his most recent Bellator outing last November. The stakes will very much be raised when he faces Gallagher though, a fighter considered by many to be among the finest prospects in the sport.
Gallagher has been unstoppable since debuting for Bellator in the summer of 2016. He has earned three submission victories in his four fights, the most recent of which — a first round mauling of Chinzo Machida on Bellator’s historic Madison Square Garden card in June — was arguably the finest performance of the SBG Ireland fighter’s career.
The contest with Labiano will be contested once again at featherweight after Gallagher has shelved plans to move down to the 135-pound division, though has suggested he would move down to the bantamweight division as soon after he wins the 145-pound title.
And, as one of Gallagher’s training partners in SBG Ireland will attest, first you visualise it and then you do it.
Bellator’s return to Dublin will take place on November 10th. We will bring you all the updates to the card as soon as they are made available.
