BAMMA and Bellator bring the house down in Dublin as James Gallagher stars

What a night it was in Dublin, Ireland as for the first time in their history, MMA giants Bellator MMA and BAMMA came together to co-promote a supershow at the Dublin 3Arena.

BAMMA 27 got the party started and then Bellator 169 kicked it into another gear to get the 3Arena rocking despite a somewhat lackluster main event.

The evening headliner saw Muhammad 'King Mo' Lawal take on Satoshi Ishii in a heavyweight clash that many would describe as best forgotten.

Unlike the other main fight cards, it made frustrating viewing both at home and for those in attendance as Ishii seemed disinterested in engage throughout the entire contest.

What transpired was a slow paced, plodding contest which Lawal dominated both in the standup and grappling exchanges.

To the distain of most, the contest went the full three rounds and when the cards came in, Lawal got the nod via unanimous decision taking all three rounds.

Main event aside, the card delivered and then some.

In the co-main event, James Gallagher defeated Anthony ‘Pretty Boy’ Taylor in the third round via submission. Gallagher largely dominated the opening two rounds, knocking Taylor to the canvas in round one, but the America hung in there well and to the surprise of most took it to the final five minutes.

When the third round began, Gallagher almost instantly jumped on the back of the American and from there the finish was academic. Taylor simply couldn’t shake the SBG man off his back and eventually fell on his front to the mat where Gallagher sunk in a deep rear-naked choke to get the tap.

While Gallagher won, it wasn’t all smooth riding for SBG Ireland at Bellator 169. The night began with Dylan Tuke losing Cameron Else in just 20-seconds, while Brian Moore was also defeated in the first round via submission.

In the other Bellator fight of the evening, Sinead Kavanagh got the ball rolling again for John Kavanagh and co with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Elina Kallionidou.

Muhammed Lawal def. Satoshi Ishii via unanimous decision

James Gallagher def. Anthony Taylor via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:52 Round 3

Sinead Kavanagh def. Elina Kallionidou via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)

Daniel Weichel def. Brian Moore via submission (arm triangle choke) at 4:44 Round 1

Cameron Else def. Dylan Tuke by KO at 0:20 Round 1

On this historic evening in Dublin BAMMA 27 kicked off the evening with an eight fight card that had it's own thrills and Spills.

Tom Duquesnoy shows his class to retain bantamweight title

The BAMMA 27 card started the evening off and was headlined by Alan ‘The Apprentice’ Philpott taking on Tom ‘The Fire Kid’ Duquesnoy in a champion versus champion bantamweight fight.

Many had predicted it would be a high octane, back and forth scrap and they weren’t wrong.

The fight began at a breathless pace in round one with both fighters throwing and landing both punches and kicks to the head and body. Both men attempted to work for the a takedown, but neither were succesful as fight was kept on the feet for the entire opening five minutes.

After a breathless opening round, both men came out their corners with their faces marked up looking as if they’d already been a full three. Something simply had to give and midway through the second, it was the Frenchman who got the all-important takedown and subsequent ground control.

From there, Duquesnoy showed what a class act he is and despite all of Philpott’s efforts he worked his way to his back to sink in a deep rear-naked choke to force the tap.

It was a hell of a fight by two of the world’s most talented young bantamweights--Tom Duquesnoy successfully retained his BAMMA bantamweight title.

Rhys McKee takes home the Lonsdale lightweight title with a devastating knockout

In the co-main event of the evening, Rhys McKee and Jai Herbert battled for the Lonsdale lightweight title and you could tell for the minute the action got underway it wasn’t going to last long.

Both men came out the gates fast throwing strikes at high volume to both head and body. Herbert looked to have the advantage at first, he took the center of the cage and pushed McKee’s back against the cage where he looked to tee off on him.

The Irishman circled out of trouble well though and before he long, he was the one pressuring on the front foot. With the first round entering its third minute, McKee finished the fight in devastating fashion. The Irishman pushed Herbert up against the cage and proceeded to land a devastating right hook, left hook combination to send the Englishman unconscious to the mat.

It was an incredible finish and the crowd went crazy as McKee celebrated on top of the cage with his corner. Rhys Mckee is the new Lonsdale lightweight title holder.

Nathan Jones upsets Walter Gahadza

British welterweight Walter Gahadza put his undefeated professional record on the line when he faced fellow Brit Nathan Jones in the fight third from the top of the bill.

It was an attritional, gritty back and forth battle and after all three rounds were in the book, most in the arena were looking around at each other questioning who would take the decision.

Unsurprisingly, it was a split decision, but in a result that most would have considered before the fight it was the underdog Nathan Jones who got the nod on the cards.

Brutal TKO from Kiely gets the 3Arena bouncing

The Irish crowd were lively from the outset, but SBG Ireland welterweight Richard Kiely got the atmosphere bouncing with his stunning TKO victory over Keith McCabe. Kiely was dominating the standup from the opening few seconds and after two minutes the finish came.

McCabe ducked down for a takedown, but Kiely spotted it and landed a perfectly timed knee to ribs to send his man crippled in pain to the mat. Kiely followed up for some ground strikes, but before he could land anything of significance, referee Daniel Movahedi called the fight to an end with a well-timed stoppage. It was an incredible win for a man making his professional debut.

Tom Duquesnoy def. Alan Philpott via submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2

Rhys McKee def. Jai Herbert 155 via KO (punch), Round 1

Nathan Jones def. Walter Gahadza via split decision

Terry Brazier def. Niklas Stolze via unanimous decision

Kiefer Crosbie def. Conor Riordan via submission (triangle), Round 2

Blaine O'Driscoll def. Neil Ward via unanimous decision

Richard Kiely def. Keith McCabe via TKO (knee), Round 1

Ian Cleary def. Andrew Lofthouse via unanimous decision