Undefeated top Bellator prospect James Gallagher will be making his return to the cage on Friday, but he won’t let a long layoff affect him.

It’s been over a year since undefeated James Gallagher has stepped into the Bellator cage but the pressure of the dreaded ring rust myth, plus the added uncertainty of a new weight class, isn’t affecting his composure — if anything it’s enhanced it.

“I had the world at my feet, “Gallagher told FanSided. “I was going to be the main event in my home country and it all got taken away from me. It’s the most devastating thing that’s ever happened, but I’m thankful. It was a good learning process for the future of my career. It taught me how to overcome difficult times and face adversity. I’ve got that mindset, it’s led me to be unbreakable. I’m gonna go in there and not only look as good as I did previously but better. I’ve never been better, the stuff that I’ve learned while away. It’s fun in there for me. It’s not like a big high-pressure situation and I think that’s what ring rust does, people can’t deal with the pressure. they choke up. I eat pressure every day for breakfast. I don’t give a f**k about stepping in there. I used to fight every Friday after school, what’s the difference of being in the arena? That’s what I thrive off of.”

Gallagher’s long hiatus from the sport was due to two back-to-back injuries which saw him removed from the main event bout in his own hometown.

“I’ve had two different injuries,” he said. “The first one I tore two ligaments in my knee and had to get surgery on it. When I came back from that, maybe only three weeks, and then I broke my hand so I had to take more time off. It’s been a tough year for me, I was in the lowest of the lows through that.”

Gallagher, who has amassed an impressive 7-0 record at just 21-years-old (five of those by first-round finish) has made the switch from his normal featherweight division to the 135-pound division and says he intends to fight for that belt very soon.

“I know what’s next,” Gallagher said. “This is a title contender show, once I win this one my next step is the 135-pound belt in Dublin — in my home county. I will be fighting for the belt by the end of this year, possibly Dec. No matter who it is, if Darrion Caldwell wants to go running, let him, I wouldn’t blame him. But I’ve got a set of balls and I’ll step up and fight him.”

Even though he’s set his sights ahead, he isn’t overlooking who is in front of him — Ricky Bandejas.

“He seems a bit like an all-rounder,” Gallagher said. “He’s a rookie at everything, He’s got a good record and I do not underestimate his skill set whatsoever. I prepare myself to fight the greatest ever, so I put in my head that this guy is the best ever — but I’m better. I’m gonna be a step ahead at all times. When he’s thinking, I’ll have landed. When he’s moving, I’ll have already moved. When he’s thinking about taking me down, I’m already on his back. When he’s thinking how he’s gonna finish — I’ve already won.”

Though many fighters hesitate in calling a fight before it’s started, Gallagher is not of that mindset and proudly announced how he’ll see the fight playing out on Friday.

“First round finish and I’ll be happy,” he said. “I can see him coming in rushing, me clipping him and I’ll drop him with a shot on the feet and I reckon I’ll submit him in the first round.”

Bellator 204 takes place on Friday, August 17at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The card will air on the Paramount Network.