Higo vs Gallagher

Who won Higo vs Gallagher?

Leandro Higo beat James Gallagher by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of Bellator Champions Series, on Friday 22nd March 2024 at SSE Arena in Belfast.

The scorecards were announced as 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of the winner Leandro Higo.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 145 pounds (10.4 stone or 65.8 KG).

Higo vs Gallagher stats

Leandro Higo stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 13 by submission.

James Gallagher made his way to the cage with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws and 9 by submission.

This was Leandro Higo's 10th fight in Bellator, having made his debut for the promotion in 2017.

Leandro Higo's Bellator record stood at 6-4-0, while James Gallagher's came in at 9-3-0.

The stats suggested Higo had an advantage in power over Gallagher, with a 14% knock out percentage over Gallagher's 0%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Gallagher had an advantage over Higo, with a 75% submission rate over Higo's 59%.

Leandro Higo was the older man by 8 years, at 36 years old.

Higo had a 5-inch reach advantage.

Higo was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 14 more fights, and made his debut in 2006, 9 years and 5 months earlier than Gallagher, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 39 more professional rounds, 66 to Gallagher's 27.

Higo vs Gallagher form

James Gallagher had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Leandro Higo at Bellator Champions Series: Belfast on 22nd March 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at SSE Arena, Belfast, United Kingdom.

Previous to that, he had won against James Gonzalez at Bellator 298 – Storley vs. Ward on 11th August 2023 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, United States.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Patchy Mix at Bellator MMA on 5th November 2021 by submission in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

Before that, he had beaten Cal Ellenor at Bellator Euro Series 9 on 3rd October 2020 by submission in the 1st round at Allianz Cloud, Milan, Italy.

He had defeated Roman Salazar at Bellator 227 on 27th September 2019 by submission in the 1st round at 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland.

Activity check

Higo's last 4 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 3 months and 25 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 9 months and 30 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 7 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.8 rounds on average.

Gallagher's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years and 9 months, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 24 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Higo vs Gallagher?

Leandro Higo was a 4/5 (-130) favourite going into the contest, while James Gallagher made his way into the ring at 1/1 (+100) with oddsmakers.