Topping the night at Bellator 217 in Dublin, Ireland, James Gallagher got back in the win column with an impressive finish.
James Gallagher looked to bounce back from an upset loss against Ricky Bandejas when he took on Steven Graham in the main event of Bellator 217 in Dublin, Ireland. Graham entered the night on a five fight win streak, and had an opportunity to cash in on the name value of Graham, another brash, trash-talking product of SBG Ireland.
Gallagher, meanwhile, was still the fighter Bellator no doubt hoped evolved into their own version of Conor McGregor, the bantamweight’s teammate at SBG. Hopefully minus the bus attack and brawl. In any case, Saturday’s trip to Dublin was certainly set up to be a bounce back fight for the ‘Strabanimal’ — and that’s exactly how it played out. With the command of ‘let’s go to war’ from the ref just before the kicked off, Graham came forward with a kick that Gallagher caught, instantly taking the fight down. Gallagher was in side control, and soon mount, though he wound up taking the back, employing a body triangle. Graham tried standing up with Gallagher still on him, slamming his opponent down, but despite the effort he was unable to free himself. Back on the ground, Graham would break free for but a moment, only for Gallagher to take the back again. Graham again worked to his feet, with Gallagher on him. Gallagher locked in the rear-naked choke, pulling Graham back to the ground. With the choke in tight, the end was inevitable.
Just like that, James Gallagher was back in the win column.
James Gallagher def. Steven Graham via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1, 2:31
