Bellator bantamweight Ricky Bandejas proved actions speak louder than words Friday night at Bellator 204, wiping out brash-talking Irish fighter James Gallagher in just one round.

For Bandejas, the win tasted particularly sweet for a number of reasons. The first being that larger organizations—including the UFC—passed over him prior to his signing with Bellator MMA.

But Bandejas isn’t bothered by that fact. Instead, the Nick Catone MMA product views the situation as a blessing in disguise.

“The way my career took off in my first Bellator fight, the first UFC fight would never be able to compare to it,” Bandejas said in an interview with FloCombat. “I went viral. That would never have happened. I would have fought, gotten my money, and went home. Barely anyone would have been talking about Ricky Bandejas.”

While Bandejas envisioned the fight going his way, he admits the magnitude of it all surprised him.

“That was the storybook ending to the beginning of my career,” Bandejas laughed. “I definitely thought I was going to get the knockout or the finish, but I never thought it was going to be like that with the kick to the face. It was all just so perfect.”

Both on social media and face-to-face, Gallagher threw all sorts of trash talk at Bandejas. Despite Gallagher’s efforts, the former CFFC title holder wasn’t the least bit rattled.

“I just turned it into motivation,” Bandejas said. “Talking crap like that makes it easier to go to the gym when you’re tired. The last thing you want is the guy winning. If he’s talking that much crap, imagine what he would do with a win.”

After the brutal finish, Bandejas did something out of character. Referee Bobby Wombacher pulled Bandejas off Gallagher’s body, but the New Jerseyan returned to let out a primal scream directed toward his opponent.

“If you watch all of my fights, I just raise my hand and don’t celebrate much,” Bandejas said. “I couldn’t hold it in. I had eight weeks of this guy messaging me crap online, sending me videos of somebody shooting a guy named Ricky. He’s uploading guns and saying, 'I’m going to kill you.' All this corny stuff.”

Following the highlight-reel performance, Bandejas’ knockout went viral and was even featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Meanwhile, Gallagher became a focal point for the MMA world to ridicule on social media.

The jeering of Gallagher caused some pushback from others in the MMA community. On the forefront, some prominent media members expressed they felt Gallagher’s loss shouldn’t be celebrated.

Conversely, Bandejas thinks it comes with the trash talk territory.

“I don’t hate the guy,” Bandejas said. “I mean, look what [trash talk] has done for his career. He has 100,000 followers on social media. Everyone was tuned into the fight that night. But that was the gamble you take. When you go out on a whim like that and you lose, be ready for the backlash.”





Monday afternoon, Bandejas was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Shortly after the conclusion of his Skype interview, Gallagher served as Helwani’s in-studio guest.

In the interview, Gallagher indicated he believed things would go differently a second time around, saying he asked Bellator for a rematch in Dublin.

“It definitely doesn’t make sense at all,” Bandejas said. “But you never know what route the promotion might take. If they give me more money, guess what? I’ll bring the fight. It all depends on their approach. Otherwise, I don’t see a point in rematching.

"It wasn’t chance. It wasn’t luck. I just outclassed the guy.”

James Gallagher to Ricky Bandejas: I want a rematch.



Bandejas: pic.twitter.com/4gfjPiRoHy — FloCombat (@FloCombat) August 20, 2018

If the rematch with Gallagher doesn’t come to fruition, Bandejas hopes to get back into the cage by the end of the year. While he doesn’t want to rule out a title shot against champion Darrion Caldwell, Bandejas isn’t necessarily expecting one either.

“I’m just looking to stay active,” Bandejas said. “If the title is coming up soon and if I could get it, I’d fight for it. I’ll take anybody. I just want to stay active.”