Bellator 240’s Frans Mlambo plans ‘absolute destruction’ of Bandejas

Frans Mlambo (second from right) and his team | Bellator MMA/Lee Hamilton-Cooper

The SBG Ireland product looks to go 3-0 in Bellator when he faces Ricky Bandejas in an important bantamweight bout this Saturday night.

Frans Mlambo is nowhere near where he wanted to be in his MMA career at this time.

He hopes to move a little further along in that journey after taking part in one of the most anticipated matchups at Bellator 240 on Saturday night. Mlambo (8-4) is facing the American, Ricky Bandejas, in his hometown of Dublin and the contest involves an intriguing storyline. Bandejas (12-3) was the first person to defeat Mlambo’s teammate, James Gallagher, back in 2018 and now travels into the Emerald Isle to see if he can knock off another SBG Ireland product. It is down to Mlambo to defend his own turf and get one back for the famed gym. However, despite his team’s history with Bandejas, Mlambo doesn’t know all that much about him and hasn’t asked for any kind of insight on what it’s like to share the cage with his adversary.

“Pretty much all I know about Bandejas is that he beat my teammate,” stated Mlambo. “Due to the fact he beat James, that tells me that he’s a very talented and dangerous fighter. To put away James is no easy feat at all, so to have that on his record shows that Ricky has skills. James didn’t give me any tips or anything like that on him and I wouldn’t expect him to either. I like going into the cage not having too much information on my opponent.

“In terms of predictions, I don’t really have one but I’m definitely planning on bringing absolute destruction,” continued Mlambo. “Not only is that the aim on Saturday night, it’s part of my plan for this year as well. I feel like I need to step things up very quickly as I’m getting older. At 28 years old, I expected to be way further ahead in my career than where I am now. In my next few fights, I’m looking to move forward very, very quickly.”

Mlambo first got into combat sports by starting boxing many years ago but he was always a martial artist at heart. When he eventually transitioned from ‘the sweet science’ to MMA, he felt at home straight away even though boxing had been going well for him at that time. MMA was where Mlambo felt he needed to be as he knew he could show far more of his skills.

The Irishman is an IMMAF gold medalist and is a BRAVE CF veteran - where he spent most of his professional career to date. He has finished 7 of his 8 victories by stoppage and hopes to build on his current three-fight winning streak in front of a partisan crowd. Dublin is known as one of the greatest fighting cities in all of the world and the locals always come out in full voice to support their own. Mlambo can’t wait to feel that energy inside the 3Arena once again and believes it will elevate his own game.

“Everyone knows that when you fight in Dublin, you get the best crowd,” claimed Mlambo. “Competing in front of your hometown gives you goosebumps. When you hear the sound, you feel as though you need to perform at your absolute best. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Following Kyoji Horiguchi relinquishing the promotion’s bantamweight title due to injury, there is no clear pecking order at the top of the division. Patrick Mix, Sergio Pettis, and James Gallagher are some of those jockeying for position in the race for the belt and the winner of this weekend’s clash between Mlambo and Bandejas can insert themselves among the championship picture. Mlambo doesn’t think he is that far from a shot at the belt if what he has planned manifests itself.

“I will move right up towards the top of the division if I beat Ricky in the fashion I intend on,” discussed Mlambo. “If the opportunity presents itself for a title fight in my next few bouts, I’m definitely going to jump on it. I feel like I’m ready to go very far, very quickly. I’ve been stepping things up in all parts of my game which hopefully everyone will see on Saturday night.”

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.