Ricky Bandejas (right) facing Juan Archuleta | Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
The American faces Frans Mlambo in Dublin on Saturday night and hopes to pick up another victory against a SBG Ireland product.
Ricky Bandejas believes his decision to move camps to American Top Team is really beginning to pay off.
Last year, Bandejas (12-3) made the switch to Coconut Creek, Florida in the hope of a better schedule to continuing rounding out his game. Now that he is working with different coaches and teammates to give him a variety of looks, his confidence has grown exponentially and his skills are progressing to a more advanced level. The American has made it a particular focus of his to believe in his striking more, which he now feels is improving with every fight. In fact, his last three victories have all been by knockout compared to the decision and submission wins he picked up earlier on in his career.
Bandejas returns to the cage on Saturday night at Bellator 240 in Dublin, Ireland against fellow bantamweight, Frans Mlambo. It is one of the more intriguing bouts on the card and has an interesting storyline attached. Bandejas was the first fighter to defeat James Gallagher and did so in devastating fashion a few years back. The American now travels to Ireland to face one of Gallagher’s teammates and hopes to overcome another SBG Ireland product. Mlambo (8-4) intends on restoring national pride by defeating the 28-year-old in front of a partisan crowd but Bandejas won’t be intimidated by his surroundings. He believes the vocal crowd will only motivate him further to claim another Irishman on his record.
“Mlambo seems to be a good fighter in all areas of the game,” stated Bandejas. “I’m expecting a war from him just like all of the opponents I have faced. I think he believes that if he beats me, it will propel him to the top of our division. However, he can’t compare me to any of his previous opponents. Frans has never faced someone like me. I’m looking for a quick finish in this one.”
Due to the shocking nature of his upset win over Gallagher, Bandejas rose to prominence right away in the promotion and a rematch between the pair would be an easy sell. The performances he’s given since that debut in Bellator have shown that the aforementioned victory was no fluke but his name will always be attached to Gallagher in some way. When asked about a future rematch with ‘The Strabanimal,’ Bandejas is open-minded but thinks Gallagher still has to prove himself further.
“Gallagher definitely doesn’t deserve a rematch with me but we’ll see what happens after this fight.”
Bellator 240: Primus vs. Bungard is being shown via tape-delay on Sky Sports Arena at 3am GMT early on Sunday morning for fans in the UK and Ireland. It will be broadcast on Paramount Network and DAZN, also on tape-delay, in the US from 10pmET/9c.