“I've absolutely loved every minute of training here”
Galway City · MMA since 2005
Strange Wolves.
Good people. Serious skills. MMA in the heart of Galway, built on trust, live training and the enjoyment of getting better.
Beginners course · 28 SeptemberWeekly MMA training · Galway local time
Monday
MMA trainingThursday
MMA trainingSaturday
MMA trainingEmail an enquiry with your preferred date and experience. Not an online booking.
strangewolvesmmagalway@gmail.comFor people with some martial arts experience
Join a regular class.
Already trained in jiu-jitsu, MMA, kickboxing, Muay Thai or wrestling? You’re welcome to join us. Bring your experience and we’ll help you connect it to the rest of MMA.
Expect live training games, positional rounds and technical sparring with specific goals. Tell the coach where you’re coming from and train with care for the person in front of you.
€12 per drop-in, paid on arrival. Contact the club before your first visit to check the session is suitable and ask what to bring.
Enquire about a classSeptember beginners course
The people behind the room
Your corner.
Volunteer coached. Independently minded. Invested in the people on the mats.
Founder & head coach
Vinny Connolly
An outside-the-box thinker who built his own way of developing complete MMA skills. Vinny created the Bronze, Silver and Gold Wolves system: no belts, just a standard earned across the whole sport.
The Wolves systemCo-head coach & club lead
Marcus Fields
Marcus combines hands-on coaching with running the club: organising training, making the day-to-day decisions and keeping the room moving. A coach committed to the progress of the people training in it.
Semi-retired coach
John Burke
Practical, crafty and full of useful details that stay with you. John brings an old-school edge, a punk-rock spirit and a wicked, unfiltered sense of humour. Semi-retired, but very much part of the club’s character.
Something to bring to the room?
Interested in coaching with Strange Wolves? Tell us about your experience and approach.
The club beyond the mats
More than a fight club.
When club member Ella was diagnosed with a rare cancer, her friends at Strange Wolves organised the Roll Rumble in support of Ella and Fiach. The event brought Galway’s martial arts community together and raised more than €14,000.
Read the Connacht Tribune story ↗
Back from a five-year hiatus
Serious training.
Questionable radio.
MMA, UFC, bare-knuckle boxing, listener questions, Steven Seagal films and whatever else gets dragged into the cage.
Latest episode · 1:02:27Episode 8: Empathetic Farts ↗Get to know the club
What makes a Wolf?
How we trainTrust, live games & getting better
Our way of training
High standards.
No big egos.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing. A nonprofit club with serious ability, where getting better matters more than looking tough. Compete if you want to. You don’t have to.
Learn by doing. Look after each other.
No pad-work routines or push-up circuits. We build skills through live training games, positional sparring and technical rounds with a specific task to solve. You learn timing, decisions and what works against a partner who is responding.
That only works with trust. Challenge each other, control the intensity and help your training partners improve. Skills, confidence, enjoyment—and a reason to keep coming back.
NonprofitThe room comes first.
Volunteer coachedPeople teach because they love the sport.
Pressure testedKeep what works against real resistance.
One sport. Three ranges.Striking, wrestling & ground work
One system · three ranges
Change the range.
Keep the intent.
Distance is never neutral
Strike with the takedown in mind.
Footwork, hands and kicks taught in the reality of MMA—where the level change, clinch and cage are always part of the exchange.
The Wolves systemBronze, Silver & Gold
No paid grading days
The Wolf
standard.
Created by founder Vinny Connolly, the Bronze, Silver and Gold Wolves system recognises progress across the complete sport—not belts or time served. The coaching team agrees when a level has been earned. There are no paid grading days, and no pressure to compete.
Bronze Wolf
Fundamentals that hold up.
A dependable base across striking, wrestling and grappling, with the ranges beginning to connect.
Silver Wolf
Amateur-ready MMA.
Technical depth, composure and a complete MMA skill set suited to the amateur circuit.
Gold Wolf
Professional standard.
A complete, tested game capable of operating at professional level.
New cage. Old room. Same people.
The Galway
pack.
Competitors, recreationalists, questionable costumes, charity events and years of actual training. Tap a photo to enlarge.
The heart of Galway
Come down.
See the room.
Message before your first session for the current timetable or the next beginners intake.
Train here
Creaven House
Claddagh Quay
Galway, Ireland
Claddagh Quay
Galway, Ireland