James Gallagher signs with Bellator MMA

Top Irish prospect James Gallagher has signed with Bellator MMA according to MMAFighting.

James “The Stabanimal” Gallagher (3-0) will first face fellow Irishman Sean Tobin in BAMMA in June 2016 before making the move.

Gallagher, now 19, began training with Strabane Fight Team on his 12th birthday before moving to Straight Blast Gym at 15. He moved to Dublin to train full time and live with coach John Kavanagh when he was 16.

James made his amateur debut at 13 years old and compiled an impressive 15-3 amateur record, which includes the old C-Class amateur rules bouts which disallowed heel hooks, neck cranks, elbows to the head and head shots to grounded opponents.

Since moving to SBG and under the new amateur rules that have been in place since 2011, Gallagher has gone undefeated at amateur and professional while jumping between featherweight and lightweight.

He is also the owner of an unusual 1 second submission victory after his opponent tapped out on the ground right after the 1st round bell sounded at Cage Contender 18 in Belfast in April 2014.