SBG prospect James Gallagher signs with Bellator

[AGEZ909]

One of Conor McGregor's most-promising teammates has signed with Bellator.

James Gallagher (3-0) has come to terms with Bellator on a new contract, MMAFighting.com has learned. The 19-year-old featherweight prospect, who trains under Straight Blast Gym head coach John Kavanagh, is expected to make his Bellator debut later this year, though a specific date and opponent has not been set.

"[I'm] very proud to have another fighter on another big show," Kavanagh said. "Today is a good day for SBG and Irish MMA."

Gallagher has been living with Kavanagh since he was 15 years old. After compiling an 8-0 amateur record, the Northern Ireland product turned pro in Oct. 2015 and has won his first three fights via first-round submission.

Before he makes his Bellator debut, Gallagher will fight Sean Tobin (4-2) June 4 at BAMMA.

Below is a clip of Gallagher's most recent fight versus Gerard Gilmore on Feb. 27.



http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/4/7/11383464/sbg-prospect-james-gallagher-signs-with-bellator

 

[KeeSmyth]

Wow Bellator signed a prospect

 

[AGEZ909]

Wow Bellator signed a prospect

Bellator has a lot of young talent. Aj McKee, andrei fialho, held, yamauchi. They have solid fighter if you actually follow them

 

[KeeSmyth]

Bellator has a lot of young talent. Aj McKee, andrei fialho, held, yamauchi. They have solid fighter if you actually follow them

I do follow Bellator very closely and they most definitely have world class talent but they aren't signing enough new talent. Bellator undercards under Coker have been shit, full of local journeyman fighters going at it. Bjorn was awesome at finding talent Brooks, Straus, Pitbull Bros, Caldwell, Bubba, Halsey, McGeary, Carvallho, Minakov and so on, Coker needs to do better job

 

[CC27]

I do follow Bellator very closely and they most definitely have world class talent but they aren't signing enough new talent. Bellator undercards under Coker have been shit, full of local journeyman fighters going at it. Bjorn was awesome at finding talent Brooks, Straus, Pitbull Bros, Caldwell, Bubba, Halsey, McGeary, Carvallho, Minakov and so on, Coker needs to do better job

Tournament was big in getting talent, plus they were focused on Russia. All that changed with Coker's Bellator.

That 100k tournament was big but thats gone, its just about tv ratings and using local guys to sell tickets which means horrible undercards.

 

[AGEZ909]

I do follow Bellator very closely and they most definitely have world class talent but they aren't signing enough new talent. Bellator undercards under Coker have been shit, full of local journeyman fighters going at it. Bjorn was awesome at finding talent Brooks, Straus, Pitbull Bros, Caldwell, Bubba, Halsey, McGeary, Carvallho, Minakov and so on, Coker needs to do better job

We don't know what the financials were like under rebney, but what is safe to say is that they probably weren't that good. I do agree that Coker has made some unpopular decisions, but they probably made more business sense.

I mean people want to remember bellator under rebney as some great org. The simple fact is that it wasn't. The tournaments platued, and ratings were steadily dropping. There is a reason he was let go.

some fresh new names in bellator are Chris Harris and Ray wood. Check both their last fights out. They are great.

 

[AGEZ909]

Tournament was big in getting talent, plus they were focused on Russia. All that changed with Coker's Bellator.

That 100k tournament was big but thats gone, its just about tv ratings and using local guys to sell tickets which means horrible undercards.

The problem with the tourny was that he winners would get backed up, rebney played favorites. And Fighters like curran didn't want to go trough the tourny again because it was too grueling.

As is stated above, tournys are remembered fondly, but there were a lot of cons. People say it created talent and stars, but where are the ratings?

The highest rated season for bellator was their first season on spike. They avg upper 700k iirc. After that, it was all down hill. Take a look at bellator 96 and 98. Those cards dipped down into the 400k. The simple truth is that the tournys ran their course, and weren't building names the way people claim.

If you avg Cokers last 12 non tentpole events and bjorns last 12. You will see that Coker actually has higher ratings.

Keep in mind that this is Cokers 2nd year running bellator, and it seems more stable than ever.

 

[Smithers]

He's getting 10k/10k.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Pretty good fighter. My friend & mma coach has won 5 of his last 6 fights with his only loss being to Gallagher.

 

[greenskye23]

Pretty good fighter. My friend & mma coach has won 5 of his last 6 fights with his only loss being to Gallagher.

Whos your coach?

 

[Meathead Jock]

Whos your coach?

Sam Agushi - I should say "was" though; i've been a lazy bum for over a year now.

That's from after the fight.

 

[greenskye23]

Sam Agushi - I should say "was" though; i've been a lazy bum for over a year now.

That's from after the fight.

Cool man! Respect

 

[Hoop]

Sam Agushi - I should say "was" though; i've been a lazy bum for over a year now.

That's from after the fight.

Looks like Sherdog hasn't updated his record - I take it he's fighting amateur or semi amateur?

People will be annoyed by Gallagher and calling him a mini version of Conor.

Anyway, he's being living with Kavanagh since he's 15 and it's hard to know how good his grappling is, as he's ran through the first 3 opponents in his pro fights, but it seems to be his strong point and it's rare to see someone from this neck of the woods having that level of experience and coaching from an early age.

Fair dues to him - he travelled a ridiculous length of time to get to Dublin for morning training and then back to his home town for school, then the same again in the afternoon. Not shy of dedication.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Looks like Sherdog hasn't updated his record - I take it he's fighting amateur or semi amateur?

People will be annoyed by Gallagher and calling him a mini version of Conor.

Anyway, he's being living with Kavanagh since he's 15 and it's hard to know how good his grappling is, as he's ran through the first 3 opponents in his pro fights, but it seems to be his strong point and it's rare to see someone from this neck of the woods having that level of experience and coaching from an early age.

Fair dues to him - he travelled a ridiculous length of time to get to Dublin for morning training and then back to his home town for school, then the same again in the afternoon. Not shy of dedication.

Nope its not up to date. He just had a 3 night tournament thing he won last week in order to get another fight in IMMAF (where he fought Gallagher) in Vegas this coming July.

 

[Hoop]

Nope its not up to date. He just had a 3 night tournament thing he won last week in order to get another fight in IMMAF (where he fought Gallagher) in Vegas this coming July.

Is he a Scot? Were you at the IMMAF's last July? I know Gallagher beat an American wrestler in his first fight and then had to pull out injured. IIIRC, he only had one fight before he had to pull out, but could be wrong seeing that picture of your coach.

 

[Thesnake101]

Any news on him?

 

[AGEZ909]

Any news on him?

Fighting on the London card iirc. Prelims I think