Bellator Euro Series 9: Gallagher vs. Ellenor Preview

The Bellator show rolls on in Milan with a mouth watering contest between James Gallagher and Cal Ellenor this weekend. Gallagher joins some more Irish talent on the card that takes place on Saturday night.

Fourth time’s the charm for the main event between James Gallagher (10-1) and Cal Ellenor (8-2) in a highly anticipated bantamweight scrap. There has been plenty of trash talk in the build up to this fight but James and Cal now finally get to settle their score once and for all. Both fighters are coming off of impressive first round submissions and both are hungry to put themselves right into title contention. A win here for either guy would do just that. This is a must see fight.

In the co-main event, middleweight Charlie Ward (8-4) looks to add to his impressive knockout win in his previous fight. Ward steps in to fight Andy Manzolo in what will be a striker vs. grappler fight of sorts. Ward likes to stand and bang – six of his eight wins come by way of knockout. Manzolo on the other hand likes to do his damage on the mats. Out of his 23 professional wins 16 of those wins have come by way of submission. Both of these guys like to finish fights and this encounter should be very exciting.

A bumper prelims section of the card sees two more Irish athletes compete. Sinead Kavanagh (6-4) throws down in a featherweight contest, she faces off against former TUF contestant and Invicta FC competitor Katharina Lehner. Lehner (7-2) is looking to bounce back after a couple of losses on the spin. She’ll have it all to do squaring off with the heavy hitting Dublin woman, with a win here Kavanagh will propel herself right into title contention for a shot a Cris Cyborg’s belt.

Also on the prelims “Big Daddy” Kiefer Crosbie (8-1) has eyes on the Bellator 155 pound division. First he must get past veteran Charlie Leary (16-11-1) in a very tough test at a catchweight bout of 160 pounds. Leary will be looking to bounce back from his loss over Tim Wilde last time out.

Crosbie looks to add to his star and will be looking to make a big statement ahead of his much talked about move down to the lightweight division. His sole loss on his record was a DQ in which threw a illegal knee in his fight with Mike Jackson. He has come back since that with two decision victories and will be looking to make it three in a row on Saturday night.

The best of the rest of the action on the prelims will see Chris Bungard (15-6) takes on Aymard Guih (13-11-1) in a bout to be contested in the lightweight division. UK veterans Ashleigh Grimshaw (20-11-1) and Andrew Fisher (17-8-1) throw down in a featherweight contest. Also in the lightweight division Kane Mousah (12-3) steps in to fight Italian Alessandro Botti (15-11) behind enemy lines. SBG fighter Asaël Adjoudj (0-1) looks to come back from a defeat in his debut, he squares off against Scottish man Nathan Jessimer (1-1).

The fight between between Robin van Roosmalen (2-0) and his opponent Nauzet Trujillo (0-0) looks nothing much on paper. Both of these guys have astute kickboxing backgrounds with over 100 competitive kickboxing bouts and world titles between them. Roosmalen has picked up Glory Kickboxing titles at featherweight and lightweight. There may be a gentleman’s agreement here to keep this fight standing and it’ll be worth having a peek at this fight given both of these guys’ credentials.

The prelims section of the card will be shown on the Bellator’s YouTube page. The main card can be seen on Saturday October 3, on Virgin Media/Channel 5 at 10pm. The card in full can be seen below.

Main Card 10pm

James Gallagher vs. Cal Ellenor Bantamweight

Charlie Ward vs. Andy Manzolo Middleweight

Prelims 7:45pm

Kiefer Crosbie vs. Charlie Leary 160 lbs Catchweight

Karl Albrektsson vs. David Trallero Light Heavyweight

Sinead Kavanagh vs. Katharina Lehner Featherweight

Chris Bungard vs. Aymard Guih Lightweight

Carlo Pedersoli vs. Acoidan Duque Welterweight

R. van Roosmalen vs. Nauzet Trujillo Lightweight

Gokhan Saricam vs. Joffie Houlton Heavyweight

Ashleigh Grimshaw vs. Andrew Fisher Featherweight

Kane Mousah vs. Alessandro Botti Lightweight

Asaël Adjoudj vs. Nathan Jessimer Featherweight

Marek Jakimowicz vs. Curtis Dodge Welterweight