James Gallagher recently shared a vivid memory of the time Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, attempted to intervene and protect him from angry Russian fans who were throwing bottles.
Throughout his mixed martial arts career, the fighter known as the ‘Strabanimal’ has earned a reputation as one of the sport`s most engaging personalities. Gallagher is preparing for his next bout, scheduled for June 14th at 971 FC in Dubai, UAE, where he will face Fabrício Soares.
However, despite what may lie ahead, he`s already experienced what he considers potentially the craziest moment of his journey in the sport.
On an unforgettable night, Gallagher found himself in a physical altercation with spectators who were enraged because his coaching strategy had led to his teammate defeating a highly-regarded prospect.
James Gallagher Recalls Bottles Being Thrown During Russian Incident
In MMA, tensions can sometimes spill over even after the fight concludes. A famous example is Khabib Nurmagomedov jumping out of the cage after defeating Conor McGregor.
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the esteemed father of the legendary lightweight, once stepped in to prevent a similar situation from escalating dangerously. This occurred after James Gallagher successfully coached his teammate, Peter Queally, to a dramatic knockout win over David Khachatryan.
In a past interview, Gallagher recounted the chaotic events: “My man (Queally’s opponent) came at him, Peter came back, crack, knocked your man spark out cold, he drops.”
“Then, next minute, wack, I’m hit in the back of the head with a bottle. Everyone starts firing in bottles.”
“Khabib’s dad gets into the cage and starts telling the crowd to ‘calm down’. Bottles were hitting him too, so I was like, ‘We’re f—–‘.”
“People are coming up, and I remember hitting a few people as they’re trying to attack us. Peter runs over to me as I’m hitting somebody, and he goes, ‘James, jump in’.”
“I’m there fighting and I’m about to jump in and I’m going, ‘If I jump in we’re all in the cage anyway so I’m f—–, so I’m best having my back to the fence’.”
“Peter’s just in there and I turn around to him, ‘Pete watch your man’, he hits someone else, and I was like ‘f— them, let’s just get stuck into them’. So, we got stuck into them.”
“We were there with Ali Bagautinov, the flyweight who was in the UFC, so they know people. This army come into the arena, cover us, and march us out of the arena. It was the maddest experience of my life.”
James Gallagher Predicts Strong Showing at 971 FC
While Gallagher will never forget the night Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father offered assistance, he is now focused on his upcoming fight next month. The 28-year-old is determined to deliver a significant performance.
He expressed his excitement: “I’m absolutely buzzing for it. It’s great from all the guys at 971 FC to get this show together. I think it will be a change of MMA because no other show, bar the UFC, is able to put on this size of a show and bring these types of fighters in.”
“You’ve got me, Kane Mousah, Muhammad Mokaev. I feel like it’s going to pop off.”
“My opponent is very experienced, he’s a 14-3 Brazilian, good jiu-jitsu and Thai boxing. It’s a very difficult fight for me.”
“I’m thankful for the boys, it’s no easy fight. That’s exactly what I train for. I feel like it’s a hard fight that will make me put in that work to go in there and shine.”
“It’s going to be that hard of a fight that I’m going to come in razor-sharp and make it look easy.”
