The future looks very bright for James Gallagher.
Conor McGregor’s SBG team-mate Gallagher (3-0) has been pitted against experience British fighter Mike Cutting (6-5) for his promotional debut at Bellator 158: London set to go down at the O2 in London on July 16.
19-year-old Gallagher, nicknamed “The Strabanimal” has been hailed as one of the ones to watch from SBG after going 3-0 since turning pro last October. And now he prepares for his biggest fight to date.
But although they hail from the same Dublin gym, Gallagher’s style is very different to that of the current UFC featherweight champ. Rather than rely on strong kicks and hefty punches to score KOs, Gallagher prefers to force his opponents to tap.
All three of his professional victories have come via first-round submission, which isn’t surprising considering he’s been submitting fully-grown adults in jiu-jitsu tournaments since he was 13 years of age.
.@SBG_Ireland product @StrabanimalMMA debuts against the tough Mike Cutting at #Bellator158! https://t.co/ucxCuGGRtJ pic.twitter.com/4ZITJVaXNy
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 20, 2016
Gallagher will share the card with some of the promotion’s biggest stars including UFC veteran and knockout artist Paul Daley who takes on Douglas Lima in a welterweight contest.
The card also sees a landmark fight involving Michael “Venom” Page (aka MVP), who faces his first ever opponent with a Wikipedia page – the 38-year-old Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
Kimbo Slice was originally set to co-headline the event until his untimely death this month. Slice (real name Kevin Anderson) died of heart failure aged just 42.
