Bellator Europe 7: Aaron Chalmers lands Dublin showcase as Bellator adds six more bouts to Feb. 22 lineup

The fight card for Bellator’s first European Series event of 2020 in Dublin is starting to take shape, with the promotion’s officials confirming six more bouts to take the number of announced matchups to 10.

James Gallagher will headline Bellator Europe 7 at the 3Arena on Feb. 22 against Cal Ellenor in a rebooking of their canceled matchup in Dublin at Bellator Europe 4 in September.

Now that bout has been joined by a main card addition, with England’s Aaron Chalmers (5-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) moving back up to 170 pounds to take on promotional newcomer Austin Clem (3-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who arrives in Bellator with a 100% finish rate, with all three of his wins coming via submission.

Former MTV star and Geordie Shore castmate Chalmers is now 100% committed to his MMA career, and after bouncing back from his first career defeat with a submission victory over Fred Freeman at Bellator Europe 3, the 32-year-old Englishman has opted to move up to his more natural weight class of welterweight for his next outing in Ireland.

Also confirmed for Dublin is Irish light heavyweight fan favorite Will Fleury (6-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), who returns to action looking to bounce back from his decision loss in Dublin in September. His knock-down, drag-out battle with Norbert Novenyi was one of the fights of the night at Bellator Europe 4, and Fleury will look to produce a similarly entertaining performance – albeit with a different result – when he takes on England’s Justin Moore (9-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

Fleury’s SBG teammate Richie Smullen (5-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) has also been handed a matchup on home soil as he bids to complete a hat-trick of successive wins in Dublin by adding the name of Ranjeet Baria (3-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) to his list of victims on home soil.

Also looking to build on their last appearance at the 3Arena is Irish strawweight Danni Neilan (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who will look to make it two wins out of two to kick off her professional MMA career when she faces off against Italian newcomer Chiara Penco (4-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), while fellow Irish prospect Blaine O’Driscoll (7-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) takes on Ezzoubair Bouarsa (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at 125 pounds.

Joining the local Irish stars on the card will be a European welterweight clash between Sweden’s Oliver Enkamp (8-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Wales’ Lewis Long (17-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who both kicked off their respective Bellator careers with impressive wins last time out.

Enkamp finished Walter Gahadza via rear-naked choke with six seconds remaining of the opening round at Bellator 223, while Long finished the same opponent, via the same technique, three minutes, 10 seconds quicker than the Swede at Bellator Europe 6 in London on Nov. 23.

Bellator Europe 7 confirmed fights include:

MAIN CARD

• James Gallagher vs. Cal Ellenor
• Aaron Chalmers vs. Austin Clem

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Oliver Enkamp vs. Lewis Long
• Philip Mulpeter vs. Daniel Crawford
• Ryan Roddy vs. Chris Duncan
• Karl Moore vs. Arunas Andriuskevicus
• Will Fleury vs. Justin Moore
• Danni Neilan vs. Chiara Penco
• Blaine O’Driscoll vs. Ezzoubair Boarsa
• Richie Smullen vs. Ranjeet Baria