Chaos briefly broke loose ahead of Saturday’s Bellator London card, as rising bantamweight stars James Gallagher and Mike Kimbel nearly brawled backstage on media day.
Luckily, the pair were separated by others nearby — including Bellator welterweight star Michael “Venom” Page, who battles short-notice replacement Gianni Melillo in the Bellator London main event.
See this near-brawl from two different angles below (via Peter Carroll and Michael Morgan).
There has been an incident between James Gallagher and Mike Kimble backstage at the #BellatorLondon media day. pic.twitter.com/4P284D0rDm
— Peter Carroll (@PetesyCarroll) November 21, 2019
And another one. pic.twitter.com/8y9BQ2n3Tw
— Peter Carroll (@PetesyCarroll) November 21, 2019
Always making trouble…#BellatorLondon pic.twitter.com/5XWSnzl7KW
— Michael Morgan (@mikewhoatv) November 21, 2019
Kimbel and Gallagher, two of Bellator’s brightest young stars, are seemingly on a collision course with one another. Not only are both wickedly talented, but they also share interesting backstory.
Gallagher trains at SBG Irelend, home to Irish MMA stars like Conor McGregor. Kimbel, meanwhile, trains with Tom Egan, Ireland’s first UFC fighter and a former SBG student.
While this fight seemingly needs to be made in the future, Gallagher is currently booked for a fight with Cal Ellenor, which will go down at Bellator Dublin on February 22. In this fight, Gallagher will look to extend his win-streak to four straight, and further separate himself from the lone loss of his career: a knockout at the hands of Ricky Bandejas. He’s 10-1 overall.
Kimbel, meanwhile, is 3-2 as a pro. In his last fight, he was stopped by strikes from Chris Disonell. This loss was preceded by a split decision win over Sebastian Ruiz, and a submission loss to John Douma in his Bellator debut. The 22-year-old doesn’t currently have a fight booked.
Should the pair win their next fights, it seems likely we could see them collide sometime in 2020.
Do you think Bellator would be smart to book a fight between Mike Kimbel and James Gallagher? Who do you think would win this clash of bantamweight prospects? Join the conversation in the comments section.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/20/2019.