JAMES GALLAGHER was shocked on home turf as he suffered defeat to Patchy Mix at Bellator 270.
The Irishman was hoping to secure himself a shot at the bantamweight title – but he and the Dublin crowd were left in stunned silence after he was beaten in the third courtesy of a guillotine choke.
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The No.6 ranked 25-year-old was competing in his first fight since departing John Kavanagh’s SBG Ireland for USA’s States and Glory MMA.
Despite now being trained by James Krause, Kavanagh was still in his corner for tonight’s showdown in front of the raucous Dublin crowd.
He was taking on an opponent that weighed in for the bout almost 2lbs overweight – making it catchweight and forcing Mix to forfeit a percentage of his purse to Gallagher as penalty.
That was the first weight miss for the American, who lost via unanimous decision to Juan Archuleta in a clash for the vacant bantamweight title at Bellator 246 in September 2020.
The Strabanimal was quick to blast his foe following Thursday’s weigh-in, saying: “He’s already beat. His mind is weak.”
But he was forced to eat his words as he suffered a major blow in his quest to earn a bantamweight title shot.
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With the crowd in full voice singing Fields of Athenry, Gallagher was caught by a hand under the neck early doors in the clinch, but after around a minute on the floor, Strabanimal got back into the ascendancy but the first ended as a tough one to call.
Gallagher then showed off his striking power early and caught Patchy with some nice combos in the second.
Things got exciting when he almost got an arm around Patchy’s neck, but he failed to secure it as the rest of the round continued with Patchy controlling on top in another tough one to call for the judges.
But the American had nothing to worry about just seconds into the third as he managed to lock in a guillotine to claim the win.