Bellator MMA Star James Gallagher Aiming for May Return

Want to say sorry to everyone who was tuning to watch me fight for this setback. I was at 100% healthy and ready to strangle everyone in this division once again, but I fractured my hand in an unlucky training accident. I stayed in the fight and would have done it with one hand easy, but unfortunately I couldn't get medically cleared and had to step out. Thanks to all of you for the ongoing support, and rest assured to the Jimmy Show will be back soon enough to clear out all of these bums. I'm going to be ready for #bellator200 in London in may. Who wants to see me on it ? @bellatormma

A post shared by James gallagher (@strabanimalmma) on Mar 12, 2018 at 4:44pm PDT

News broke on the “MMA Hour” Monday that James Gallagher was injured and would not be able to fight at Bellator 196 against Adam Borics. Instead, Benson Henderson would face Roger Huerta as the new main event.

In a social media post Gallagher apologized to fans and let them know the details of his injury and when he expects to return to action.

This injury is coming after Gallagher had undergone knee surgery last October and worked his way back to training for competition. The 21-year-old featherweight is one of the younger rising stars on the Bellator MMA roster.

His last appearance against Chinzo Machida at Bellator 180 in Madison Square Garden this past June not only elevated the young man as a legit force of his own to be reckoned with, but put his submission game on full display. Five of Gallagher’s seven wins come by way of rear-naked choke.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu Karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since UFC 1. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.