With Cris Lencioni suffering a medical emergency earlier this month that has left him in intensive care (you can read more and contribute to his recovery effort via GoFundMe), Ireland’s James Gallagher has a new opponent for August’s Bellator 298.
Gallagher (11-2) will now face James Gonzalez (10-6) at the event on August 11, 2023 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed the booking to Cageside Press on Monday, following an initial report by MMA Fighting.
Gallagher will be looking to bounce back from a loss to current interim bantamweight champion Patchy Mix in the fight. “The StrabAnimal” has seen several match-ups fall through since that November 2021 setback.
Gonzalez, who won a bout on the PFL Challenger Series earlier this year, returns to the Bellator MMA cage after suffering a loss against Aaron Pico. Gonazalez also did a stint in Cage Fury FC, competing for both that promotion’s bantamweight and featherweight titles.
Bellator 298 is headlined by welterweights Logan Storley and Brennan Ward. The card currently has the following fights reported:
- Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward
- Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
- Dalton Rosta vs. Aaron Jeffery
- Sidney Outlaw vs. Islam Mamedov
- James Gallagher vs. James Gonzalez
- Lucas Brennan vs. Weber Almeida
- Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
- Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish
- Alfie Davis vs. Aalon Cruz
- Dayana Silva vs. Katerina Shakalova
- Max Rohskopf vs. Jairo Pacheco
- Jerrell Hodge vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva
- Michael Blockhus vs. Eli Mefford
- Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Dante Schiro
