One of Conor McGregor’s closest teammates was scheduled to return to action last week.

McGregor has been a major influence on James Gallagher’s career.

‘The Strabanimal’ became one of the faces of Irish MMA while training alongside ‘The Notorious’ at SBG Ireland.

Having struggled to remain consistently active for some time now, the Irishman was hoping to compete for the second time in a year for the first time since 2019 this past Thursday.

Unfortunately, in very bizarre circumstances, Gallagher’s bout on ACA 194 was revealed to be canceled long after it was originally scheduled to take place.

James Gallagher reveals why he didn’t fight at ACA 194 last week

James Gallagher had posted on social media days after ACA 194 to tell fans that he would look to address exactly what went down in Dubai at a later date.

The Irishman recently told his side of the story during an appearance on the ‘Energized Show’, where he confirmed that backstage issues are what led to him withdrawing from the fight.

Gallagher was set to take on Ali AlQaisi, but there were several things that he and his team were unhappy with during fight day, from the timing of his bout being moved around to the area that he was given to warm up in.

‘The Strabanimal’ and his team were prepared to fight anyway and looked to try and find a solution to some of their issues, though this didn’t end up happening.

He revealed that the decision to not compete was made by his team after tensions appeared to be escalating into something that could turn physical.

“We just want to warm up, go and fight, and be on our way. So, as that’s happening, one of the main guys comes up and shouts in my teammate’s face like, ‘What’s the problem? I’m this close,’ insinuating that he was going to fight with one of my teammates.

“After that, the team just decided, and they were messaging my coach back home as well, they were like, ‘Listen James, you’re not fighting. This is not happening. They’ve f—– you around all day. They f—– you around all day Yesterday and it just cannot happen like this.’”

James Gallagher doesn’t hold a grudge against ACA after what happened

Despite not fighting due to issues that occurred ahead of his fight, James Gallagher isn’t holding a grudge against ACA following this past week.

He detailed how he met with someone from the promotion the following day, with both sides clearing the air and hoping to move forward.

“I did have a meeting with them the next day with the vice president of ACA, who are very respectful people, who understood what I was saying and apologized to it and I also apologized to them for not fighting.

“We were at a mutual understanding. They reassured me that this is not how ACA is, it was just one of those things that happened and that we hope we can book the fight in Russia on December 5.”

Gallagher still hopes to compete with ACA in the future, and he’s confident that they can put this drama behind them.