James Gallagher gets new opponent, faces former UFC fighter Roman Salazar in Dublin main event

Less than two days after Cal Ellenor was forced to withdraw from his Bellator Dublin main event clash with James Gallagher, Bellator has found a replacement for the Irishman as he will now take on three-time UFC fighter Roman Salazar in the headline bout of the Sept. 27 card.

Bellator confirmed to MMA Fighting that Gallagher vs. Salazar would remain as the main event bout for the Bellator Dublin card, but the fight will now be contested at a catchweight of 140 pounds.

The day after the news surfaced that he was off the card, Ellenor took to social media to explain how he was forced to pull of the bout when some abnormalities were discovered in his pre-fight brain scan.

Gallagher (9-1-0) has bounced back from his first professional defeat, a knockout loss to Ricky Bandejas, with two straight wins — a submission victory over Steven Graham and a unanimous decision win over Jeremiah Labiano. The Bellator Dublin card will be the second time that he has headlined a promotional card in Dublin following his first round submission win over Graham in February.

Salazar (13-9-0) comes into the catchweight bout on the back of a split decision loss to Mario Israel at LFA 72: Madrid vs. Harris. He failed to claim a win under the UFC banner in his three-fight stint with the promotion from 2014 to 2015, suffering submission losses to Mitch Gagnon and Marlon Vera. His only other UFC bout with the legendary Norifumi Yamamoto ended in an no-contest due to an eye poke.

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