James Gallagher learned a lot from Conor McGregor during their time training together, but one thing in particular really stood out.
On June 14, ‘Strabanimal’ will make his eagerly anticipated comeback at 971 FC against Fabrício Soares in Dubai, UAE.
His fans have missed his trash-talking skills on the mic and tremendous striking displays inside the cage, with much of that honed during his stint at SBG in Dublin, Ireland.
Now, the MMA star has opened up about the biggest thing he picked up while sparring ‘The Notorious’.
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Conor McGregor taught James Gallagher about mentality after winning despite injury
At just 20 years of age, James Gallagher collided with the younger brother of Lyoto Machida, Chinzo Machida, at Bellator 180, inside the historic Madison Square Garden in New York, USA.
In a statement performance, he submitted the Brazilian via first-round rear-naked choke.
Very few athletes of that age could’ve coped with the pressure of competing on such a huge stage, but Gallagher did it with ease.
Now, he’s opened up about how his tough mindset developed through being around Conor McGregor, and in particular, watching how the icon coped with suffering a tough injury right before a massive UFC showdown.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Gallagher explained: “When I was coming up on the scene, sparring and training with Conor, it’s unbelievable just to see someone with that mindset and skill set.
“There’s stuff that I’ve learnt, not just skill-wise but more mentality and training, how you prepare for big moments and handling yourself under pressure.
“He deals with it at the highest magnitude, so if you can pick little bits up along the way, that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned, how to hold yourself at a high mentality when everything else goes wrong.
“I remember the first time he fought Dustin Poirier, he broke his thumb three weeks before, I remember going to the hospital with Gunnar Nelson.
“To see how much stuff was going wrong in such a big moment, and how you can keep that mindset.
“Banging your thumb out three weeks out during your hardest rounds, that’s detrimental to your mindset going into a big event. There was a lot of learning, and it was good to be around.”
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Gallagher’s time in MMA has been filled with crazy memories.
On one occasion, he flew out to Moscow, Russia, to corner his teammate, Peter Queally.
When his teammate won in devastating fashion, it’s fair to say it didn’t go down too well with the crowd.