Bellator heads into Europe for two events, as both Bellator Dublin and Bellator 227 will be live from the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Friday, September 27th. Bellator Dublin is headlined by Irish local James Gallagher taking on Roman Salazar in the main event. The co-main event will have Michael Page coming off his first career loss fighting another Irish local in Richard Kiely. The Dublin card will also have Peter Queally fighting in his home country as he takes on Ryan Scope in a welterweight fight. With only 3 fights scheduled for the main card of Bellator Dublin, MMASucka takes a closer look at what you can expect to see.
Ryan Scope vs. Peter Queally
Ryan Scope is back in the Bellator cage for the 2nd time of his career. He made his debut back in February at Bellator Newcastle where he lost a controversial decision to Patricky Freire. After being sidelined with an injury for the last few months, Scope is eager to get back on track and it starts with Peter Queally. Scope has a 10-2 record with 8 of his wins coming via submission. He will be looking to make a statement, as he wants his rematch with Freire.
Also coming off a loss in his Bellator debut, Peter Queally will be looking for a win in front of his home town fans. The Dublin local last fought at Bellator 217 where he lost a split decision to Myles Price. Queally is saying this could be a fight of the night contender, as both fighters have a lot of experience and want to earn their first Bellator wins.
This fight was originally scheduled at lightweight but Scope reached out to Queally on Instagram to ask if it could be moved to welterweight and Queally agreed. Now with both fighters not having to cut any weight, it will be interesting to see what kind of power they can generate.
Michael “Venom” Page vs. Richard Kiely
England’s Michael Page is coming off his first career loss back at Bellator 221 where he was knocked out by Douglas Lima. Page is one of the flashiest fighters on Bellator’s roster, and he is also a very powerful fighter. In 8 of his 14 wins Page has knocked his opponent out, which includes his flying knee knockout of Cyborg Santos that fractured his skull. It will be interesting to see how Page handles Kiely, especially after his first loss.
Local Irish fighter Richard Kiely is back in the Bellator cage looking to add another knockout to his record. Kiely, who is 3-1, made his Bellator debut back at Bellator 217 where he came out with an exciting first-round TKO over Mickael Bucher. All 3 of Kiely’s wins have come via TKO and Kiely will look to shock the MMA world and give Michael Page his second career loss.
It was a big surprise when this fight was first announced. On paper this fight is heavily favoring Page; anything can happen, but Page has an incredible amount of experience over Kiely.
James Gallagher vs. Roman Salazar
The 3Arena will be wild as James Gallagher is back headlining in his home country. Gallagher was originally set to face Cal Ellenor but Ellenor pulled out due to injury. He now faces Roman Salazar who is making his Bellator debut. The young 22-year-old fighter is coming off a decision victory over Jeremiah Labiano at Bellator 223. Gallagher has seven submissions on his 9-1 record. His only loss came back at Bellator 204 where he was knocked out by Ricky Bandejas. Irish fight fans have incredible pride, and this hometown crowd will fire Gallagher up.
Roman Salazar is stepping into this fight on a week’s notice. The former UFC fighter is on a three fight losing streak. After bouncing around a few regional promtions he most recently fought at LFA 72 where he lost a decision to Mario Isreal. Salazar is hoping the move to Bellator will help him get back on track with his MMA career.
This fight will be contested at 140 pounds. Similar to the Page fight, on paper Gallagher looks to have the upper hand. Stranger things have happened in the fight world and both fighters will be looking to put on a show for the Irish fans.
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