Bellator 280: Davy Gallon Admits He Never Practiced Rolling Thunder Kick that Finished Ross Pearson

Bumped up to the main card this Friday at Bellator 280 is France’s own Davy Gallon.

For years, MMA was banned in Gallon’s home country. Now, he gets to compete in Paris for this first time, after signing with Bellator following a big win over UFC veteran Ross Pearson a few years ago.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity, and it’s an honor to fight in my country. So I want to put on a great show, and have a great war with my opponent,” Gallon (13-8) said during this week’s Bellator 280 media day.

His opponent, Benjamin Brander, is a Swiss lightweight returning to the promotion for the first time since 2019. Gallon, as the hometown hero, will no doubt have the French faithful firmly behind him Friday.

“I’m really lucky to fight in front of my crowd,” Gallon stated. “I’m ready, I feel great, so I want to go in there and put on a show, and I expect to do it.”

Gallon went on to add that when it comes to his career, he’s living the “dream life.”

“I’m pretty thankful to [Bellator] for giving me the opportunity to live the dream life. Because for me, it’s for real. I do what I love, and I’m paid for it,” exclaimed Gallon. “So yes, yes yes, it’s a dream life, and I feel the opportunity. So I’m thankful to Bellator.”

Even how Gallon earned his way into the promotion feels like something out of a dream, or at least a story book. He finished Ultimate Fighter winner Ross Pearson with a rolling thunder kick — which he had learned by watching videos online shortly before the fight.

“Just the fact that I fought Ross Pearson was a great change in my life. It was a guy who fought everybody in the UFC— [Jorge] Masvidal, Edson Barboza, guys who are still in this cage and fought against the best in the world,” recalled Gallon. “Only the fact that I will fight him, it was a big change in my life for me, it was a chance to go against this legend. And then I have this crazy finish.”

As to how it came out, “I saw this Kyokushinkai video on Youtube, I said ‘oh I love this kick, one day I will do it, I will do it!’

Gallon told his coach about the move, who in turn told him to calm down. “It’s Ross Pearson, guy. You can do it, but only at the end of the third round,” was his coach’s response.

That’s exactly when Gallon pulled off the kick, finishing Pearson with just over thirty seconds to go in the fight back in 2019. And amazingly, he hadn’t even tried the kick out in the gym — because he’d seen it online not long before the fight itself.

“No, I don’t even practice this kick,” Gallon admitted.

Davy Gallon faces Benjamin Brander at Bellator 280 in Paris, France, this Friday, May 6, 2022, on Showtime. Watch the rest of Gallon’s media day interview above. More coverage can be found below.