Fighter to Watch in 2017: James Gallagher
Fighter to Watch in 2017: James Gallagher
Rising Irish star James Gallagher made a lot of noise in 2016 and he's not slowing down in the new year.
Over the past week, I've given you my top European prospects to be keeping an eye on in 2017.
We've had the Englishman Ryan Scope, the Frenchman Tom Duquesnoy, and today we head in the direction of Northern Ireland to talk about a guy who I think is going to have a big year in 2017.
James Gallagher of SBG Ireland took three fights last year and won all of them convincingly taking his professional record to 5-0 with wins over Gerard Gilmore, Mike Cutting and then Anthony Taylor.
Two of those came under the Bellator banner with his debut in July when he defeated Cutting via a unanimous decision in the 02 Arena in London.
While his performance in London was a solid start to his Bellator career, it was his second win last month where we really him step up to a new level. The pressures of being the co-main event and fighting in front of your home crowd would've been something that sent many 20-year-old guys over the edge, but for Gallagher, it was something he savored.
I talked to James a few times leading up to his fight with co-main event with Anthony Taylor on Dec. 16 and I could see in his eyes each and every time that he meant it when he said this was going to be his moment.
"I'm going to steal the show--it's my show," Gallagher told FloCombat ahead of the fight. "Let's make no mistake about it, they pulled me off one card to be the co-main event. I've only just turned 20 with four professional fights. It's my show here and I'm going to steal the crowd. It's my home.
"This feels right--it makes me feel comfortable. This is where I belong and what I've always wanted. This is my show and it's what belongs to me. It feels right and I love this feeling."
And on the night, it was his show. Gallagher brought the house down like no one else and the lasting image from Bellator 169 is him on top of the cage celebrating with the fans on their feet.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOGZt6IABzr/" hide_caption="0"]
This isn't a bad story for a guy that's 5-0 is it? It isn't, but I got a feeling there's plenty more to come from Gallagher this year.
In 2017 I would expect to see him setting his sights on a big Bellator show in America where he can start to build his profile bigger there. Bellator are expected to be back for another show in London this July and it would be no surprise to see Gallagher on there, but now is the time to take the young man across the pond to build his brand further.
Just as I did with Duquesnoy and Scope, I will hang my hat on this guy having an even bigger year in 2017 and I do that with great confidence. He's got the skills and the mentality to stay grounded while working his way up to the top and with the '2016 Coach of The Year', a team full of killers and a nation all behind, who out there can stop him?
It's about time people stopped calling him the 'next Conor McGregor'; he's the present James Gallagher and he's on the rise.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOw_g1ogEzQ/" hide_caption="0"]
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We've had the Englishman Ryan Scope, the Frenchman Tom Duquesnoy, and today we head in the direction of Northern Ireland to talk about a guy who I think is going to have a big year in 2017.
* * *
2016 was full of so many success stories it's often easy to forget about the man from Strabane who took some big strides on towards achieving his dream.James Gallagher of SBG Ireland took three fights last year and won all of them convincingly taking his professional record to 5-0 with wins over Gerard Gilmore, Mike Cutting and then Anthony Taylor.
Two of those came under the Bellator banner with his debut in July when he defeated Cutting via a unanimous decision in the 02 Arena in London.
While his performance in London was a solid start to his Bellator career, it was his second win last month where we really him step up to a new level. The pressures of being the co-main event and fighting in front of your home crowd would've been something that sent many 20-year-old guys over the edge, but for Gallagher, it was something he savored.
I talked to James a few times leading up to his fight with co-main event with Anthony Taylor on Dec. 16 and I could see in his eyes each and every time that he meant it when he said this was going to be his moment.
"I'm going to steal the show--it's my show," Gallagher told FloCombat ahead of the fight. "Let's make no mistake about it, they pulled me off one card to be the co-main event. I've only just turned 20 with four professional fights. It's my show here and I'm going to steal the crowd. It's my home.
"This feels right--it makes me feel comfortable. This is where I belong and what I've always wanted. This is my show and it's what belongs to me. It feels right and I love this feeling."
And on the night, it was his show. Gallagher brought the house down like no one else and the lasting image from Bellator 169 is him on top of the cage celebrating with the fans on their feet.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOGZt6IABzr/" hide_caption="0"]
This isn't a bad story for a guy that's 5-0 is it? It isn't, but I got a feeling there's plenty more to come from Gallagher this year.
In 2017 I would expect to see him setting his sights on a big Bellator show in America where he can start to build his profile bigger there. Bellator are expected to be back for another show in London this July and it would be no surprise to see Gallagher on there, but now is the time to take the young man across the pond to build his brand further.
Just as I did with Duquesnoy and Scope, I will hang my hat on this guy having an even bigger year in 2017 and I do that with great confidence. He's got the skills and the mentality to stay grounded while working his way up to the top and with the '2016 Coach of The Year', a team full of killers and a nation all behind, who out there can stop him?
It's about time people stopped calling him the 'next Conor McGregor'; he's the present James Gallagher and he's on the rise.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOw_g1ogEzQ/" hide_caption="0"]
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