Bellator 180's James Gallagher eyeing title: 'I'm not here to just be this young, cocky kid'

NEW YORK – At just 20 years old, James Gallagher is ready to take the fight world by storm.

Gallagher (6-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), a teammate of UFC champion Conor McGregor, may be somewhat green as a professional, but he has an extensive amateur background and believes he is well beyond his years as a competitor.

He faces Chinzo Machida (5-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) on Saturday at Bellator 180, which takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City prior to the Bellator NYC pay-per-view. It’s his biggest fight to date, but Gallagher said he’s been ready for the spotlight since he quit school at 15.

“This is where I belong,” Gallagher told MMAjunkie. “I don’t belong anywhere else. Why shouldn’t I be comfortable here? This is what I do. This is what I love to do and what I strive off. A lot of people think that just because I’m young and on such a big stage that I should be uncomfortable and this kind of thing. This is what I strive for, this is what I love to do. I don’t want to be anywhere else but here.

“When I was 15 years old, that’s when I decided this is what I want to do. I had 10 amateur fights and I was at school and I hated school. I wasn’t good at school and I was getting bad grades. … I just couldn’t do it anymore and wanted to get out and just wanted to train. Then I quit school when I was 15. I told my parents, ‘I can’t do this any more, but I can do (MMA).’ No one in Ireland was in the UFC at the time. There was no set path or anything like this. I told them I would work hard at this.”

Gallagher credits his parents for supporting him when he bailed from school and decided to follow a career in martial arts. Thus far, it’s paid off. “The Strabanimal” has put together six consecutive wins to start his pro career, including three under the Bellator banner.

Machida, the brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, is Gallagher’s most challenging opponent to date. He brings a karate-based style which can be a complicated riddle for many foes to solve. Gallagher said he’s not worried about that, though, because he intends on making Machida figure him out, and not the other way around.

“I have a tough opponent in front of me, but he’s limited,” Gallagher said. “He moves back and forward in straight lines and he’s just got that one style. I’ve got it all. I’ve got the striking, I’ve got the clinch, I’ve got the ground, I’ve got the in-close boxing, and I’ve got the distance fighting. I’ve got that karate style, as well. I can do all that. I started off doing karate. I feel I’ve got it all, where he’s got that one style.”

Gallagher hopes his fight at Bellator 180 will help catapult him up the featherweight pecking order. He is the youngest fighter in the division, but already feels as if he’s the best. Gallagher is ready to be fast tracked into a championship showdown with Patricio Freire as soon as possible, he just hopes that Bellator has the same confidence in him as he has in himself.

“I’ll fight for the belt tonight if they give it to me,” Gallagher said. “I wanted that belt when I first signed with Bellator and I made it clear. That’s what I want. I’m not here to just be this young, cocky kid. I don’t give a (expletive) about all that. I’m coming here to win fights and make statements and that’s what I’m coming here to do and preparing to do. I want the belt. That’s what my goal is.”

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