Search icon

MMA

27th Jan 2019

Former WWE star Jack Swagger dishes out serious punishment on Bellator debut

Patrick McCarry

He’s 36 years young and now has a professional Mixed Martial Arts record of 1-0

Jake Hager is off and running in Bellator.

The American, who portrayed the character Jack Swagger in World Wrestling Entertainment, has followed in the footsteps of Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley and Dave Bautista in swapping pro wrestling for something with some real bite.

Hager will, he hopes, come across tougher foes than 41-year-old J.W Kiser as his MMA career continues but he was delighted to get his pro career off to a winning start.

Training out of Bautista’s MMA gym in Cincinnati, Hager quickly took the fight to the mat and tried to work a kimura before transitioning, raining some heavy blows on Kiser and locking in a head and arm choke.

Kiser resisted for as long as he could before the tap came and Hager could celebrate an impressive start to life in Bellator.

A host of WWE stars, past and present, were quick to praise Hager, who said after the match: “It was a matter of keeping my posture and then it was just a matter of time before I put it on him.”