James "The Strabanimal" Gallagher is a mixed martial artist from Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, who fights out of Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland in Dublin. His Instagram, @strabanimalmma, follows his fight camps and grappling training. He is not the James Gallagher found in many other search results; this page covers the fighter only.
Background
Gallagher was born on 24 October 1996 in Strabane. Wikipedia describes him as a grappling-focused fighter with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background who wins mostly by submission, usually with rear-naked chokes or guillotines.
MMA career
- Early career: turned professional in 2015 and won his first three fights by first-round submission on UK and Irish shows. He added a win at BAMMA 24 in 2016.
- Bellator debut: signed with Bellator in 2016 and beat Mike Cutting by unanimous decision at Bellator 158 in July 2016.
- Bellator wins: rear-naked chokes on Anthony Taylor, Kirill Medvedovsky and Chinzo Machida, and a guillotine on Roman Salazar.
- Losses: a first-round knockout by Ricky Bandejas in his 2018 bantamweight debut, a guillotine by Patchy Mix in 2021, and a decision against Leandro Higo in March 2024.
- Recent fights: an armbar win over Fabrício Soares at 971 FC 2 in June 2025, then an arm-triangle loss to Kazumasa Majima at Rizin Landmark 13 on 12 April 2026, competing at featherweight.
Wikipedia lists his record as 13 wins (10 by submission) and 4 losses, with one no contest, though its table is not fully consistent.
Related pages
His finishing pattern links to our back control, rear-naked choke and guillotine choke pages. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.