Cris Lencioni officially pulled from James Gallagher fight as Bellator 298 adds five new bouts

The Bellator 298 lineup unsurprisingly has lost a fight while gaining five others.

In a press release announcing the five new bouts Thursday, Bellator also removed James Gallagher vs. Cris Lencioni from the lineup. While the release made no mention of Lencioni’s removal, a promotion official confirmed to MMA Junkie that he won’t compete at Bellator 298 after it was revealed last week that the 28-year-old is in intensive care following a cardiac arrest suffered in training. There haven’t been any updates on his condition since.

Bellator intends to find a replacement for Gallagher, who hasn’t competed since a submission loss to current interim bantamweight champion Patchy Mix in November 2021. Gallagher’s previous two fight bookings prior to Lencioni were canceled.

Among the five additions, flyweight Diana Avsaragova will look to remain undefeated when she takes on UFC veteran Justine Kish. Avsaragova (6-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) is coming off a split decision win over Alejandra Lara in February at Bellator 290.

Below is the updated Bellator 298 lineup:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)

• Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward
• Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
• Aaron Jeffery vs. Dalton Rosta
• Islam Mamedov vs. Sidney Outlaw

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, YouTube, 5:30 p.m. ET)

• Weber Almeida vs. Lucas Brennan
• Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
• Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish
• Aalon Cruz vs. Alfie Davis
• Dayana Silva vs. Katerina Shakalova
• Jario Pacheco vs. Max Rohskopf
• Jerrell Hodge vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva
• Michael Blockhus vs. Eli Mefford

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 298.