Jack Swagger, or Jake Hager, went through something of a heel turn in his last fight. But despite the crowd booing the WWE star following his finish of T.J. Jones, Bellator isn’t about to slow his roll. They’ve lined up Swagger’s third opponent, for the upcoming Bellator 231 card.

Swagger (2-0) will face Anthony Garrett on the main card of Bellator 231. The news was first reported by ESPN. Garrett (4-2) has competed exclusively for Shamrock FC since turning pro in 2016. He’s 1-1 so far this year, and is coming off a loss to Jordan Mitchell back in June at Shamrock FC 319.

At the very least, Garrett, who also competed for several years an an amateur, offers a small step up for Swagger. A collegiate wrestler, Swagger/Hager was an NCAA Division I All-American, and set the record for number of pins in a single season at the University of Oklahoma in 2006.

After making it to the top of the pro wrestling world, the former WWE star signed with Bellator MMA in late 2017, and made his debut this past January. To date, he hasn’t really been tested in the cage, but as expected, his wrestling has looked solid. Both his wins have ended in finishes via arm-triangle choke.

Bellator 231 takes place October 25, 2019 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

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Chicago, IL — Former WWE Superstar Jack Swagger was expected to win what amounted to a squash match at Bellator 221 on Saturday night in Chicago. He did just that. But sometimes, it’s about how you win. And in his sophomore outing, against a fighter who many saw as a jobber being brought in to lose, Swagger did not win well.

That had nothing to do with technique, mind you. Swagger’s wrestling continues to be on point. He had at least basic knowledge of submissions, and he again won via arm-triangle choke in the first round. But when opponent Jones tapped, Swagger held on. When the ref tried to break them apart, Swagger held on. Ref Mike Beltran had to pry him off, and admonished the fighter afterward.

Swagger, real name Jake Hager, addressed the situation following the event, with reporters including Cageside Press. The late release of the choke earned him a chorus of boos in his post-fight interview, something that “really hadn’t crossed my mind,” Swagger said. “Of course you want to be loved and cherished everywhere you go, but that’s not always the case.”

Cherished he was not. Not in Chicago. Perhaps it’s a sign of the MMA crowd being militantly anti-pro wrestling. More likely, they saw Swagger as something of a bully for refusing to let go. It wasn’t Rousimar Phalares bad, but it was bad enough.

“What you saw out there tonight was real emotion,” he said of his response to the crowd, which was antagonistic as well. If this was pro wrestling, Swagger had clearly made a heel turn. “That was a genuine response. I’m out there talking about my kids, and they start to boo me.”

In regards to holding on to the choke, however, Swagger said it was entirely unintentional. Even if he had a reason to be salty. “TJ did great, he’s a class act,” said Swagger, but added, “he did run his mouth all week, he did taunt me on stage, publicly. Did I have every reason to go out there and try and hurt him? Yes. Was I professional all week? Yes. Did I ever taunt him or anything throughout this whole fight? No.”

“This is just what happens. It wasn’t on purpose,” he stated. “I legitimately thought that was him pushing on my arm, and I had specific instruction before in the locker room, from the referee who is a very large man, who told me he will get me off him.”

As to Jone’s response after it was all said and done, Swagger recalled that “first he was congratulatory, then afterwards he kind of fired up again. I think he took Heath Slater’s catch phrase and said ‘I got kids.’ I think Slater needs to get some trademark royalties for that. Then afterwards, I think it was respectful again.”

After the fight, Scott Coker tweeted about bringing Jones back. Swagger thinks the promotion should do just that. “He is very entertaining, the crowd definitely liked him. Why not bring him back?”

As for his own return, the former collegiate wrestler with the University of Oklahoma answered “soon. Soon. I’ll take about a week off. Don’t they have a fight at Madison Square Garden [in a] little bit? You never know.”

More realistically, it will be a few months. “We were three months on this one. We’re going to continue that time frame. I plan to be 4-0 by the time Donald Trump gets re-elected.”

Watch the full post-fight press scrum with Jack Swagger/Jake Hager at Bellator 221 above!

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There are a couple of pro wrestling terms that applied to Bellator 221’s main card bout between Jack Swagger and TJ Jones. A couple key ones. Mainly, “jobber,” and “squash match.” That’s certainly what it felt like heading in, at least. Swagger, a former WWE champion who was also a decorated collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, began his MMA career rather late, signing with Bellator in 2017, and making his debut earlier this year. However, a win over J.W. Kiser showed that Swagger at least had some raw talent.

For his second fight, Bellator opted to feed more of the same to Swagger, real name Jake Hager. TJ Jones was a 1-1 fighter in MMA as a pro, which on paper, made Swagger vs. Jones an even enough fight. But it was the pro wrestler (Swagger continues to compete in that world) who came in with all the tools necessary to dominate a fighter who was 329lbs when he signed up for the bout. Realistically, Jones was the jobber in this bout.

He had some fun with it at least. Jones danced on his way out, clearly reveling in the moment. When they went at it, however, the dance was over quickly. They clinched, and Jones did manage to reverse, but was soon taken down. Hager’s wrestling prowess was soon on display, as he controlled TJ Jones, then isolated an arm. Swagger wound up in side control, looking for a potential choke. He then switched back to the arm, looking for an Americana. Jones muscled out, but was on his knees with the ex-WWE star on his back. Hager landed some punches, then flattened Jones out, sinking in the arm-triangle choke. Jones quickly tapped, the ref came in to break it up, but Jake Hager was slow to release the hold, much to the displeasure of ref Mike Beltran.

💪@RealJackSwagger gets the W tonight via submission.

Our main card continues on 📲 @DAZN_USA!
and @SkySports in the 🇬🇧. pic.twitter.com/ARQyXqoPxy

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) May 12, 2019

The fighters would hug it out after, but the late release will no doubt become one of the larger talking points in a fight that was basically a squash match. Post-fight, Swagger said he thought the ref was actually his opponent, then gave a questionable line about being “rock hard” from the experience. With the fans booing, Swagger yelled out “keep booing me, I don’t care!” as he finished his interview.

Jake Hager def. TJ Jones by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 2:36

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Friday in Chicago, all fighters hit the scales ahead of Bellator 221. The event sees Michael Chandler defending his lightweight title in a grudge match against Patricio Freire, more commonly Patricio Pitbull. The featherweight champ of Bellator MMA, Pitbull is hoping to avenge his brother, who was previously knocked out by Chandler.

The action doesn’t stop there. Michael ‘Venom’ Page takes on Douglas Lima in a welterweight Grand Prix semi-final, with a shot at the title on the line. A.J. McKee, with the longest undefeated streak in Bellator history, was taking on former champ Pat Curran at featherweight. And Jack Swagger, real name Jake Hager, was heading into the second fight, having made the transition from WWE superstar to mixed martial artist.

Check below for full results from Friday’s weigh-in!

Bellator 221: Chandler vs. Pitbull Weigh-In Results

Main Card

Lightweight: Michael Chandler (154.8) (c) vs. Patrício Freire (154.7)
Welterweight: Douglas Lima (169.5) vs. Michael Page (169.9)
Featherweight: A. J. McKee (145.8) vs. Pat Curran (146)
Heavyweight: Jake Hager (239.1) vs. T.J Jones (263.7)
Featherweight: Tywan Claxton (145.8) vs. James Bennett (145.8)

Preliminary Card

Featherweight: Adil Benjilany (145.3) vs. Chris Lencioni (145)
Lightweight: Chris Gonzalez (155.8) vs Charlie Radtke (155.5)
Welterweight: Scott Writz (170.3) vs. Josh Streacker (169.8)
Bantamweight: Bryan Bautista (134.8) vs. Robert Fenicle (134.4)
Bantamweight: Askar Askar (140.8) vs Taylor Moore (134.8) ***

Internet Bout

Lightweight: Adam Ward (155.2) vs Amartuvshin Khuukhenkhuu (154.9)
Bantamweight: Jose Leon (137.7) vs Christian Rodriguez (140)
Featherweight: Joey Diehl (125.8) vs Jesse Bazzi (125.8)
Heavyweight: Dave Latoria (242.1) vs Jason Belyew (243.8)
Light Heavyweight: James Bochnovic (204.4) vs Robert Morrow (204.5)

*** The Askar Askar vs Taylor Moore fight is off. In Illinois, there is an obscure rule that requires fighters to be within three pounds of each other. That is why Jose Leon intentionally missed wight after his opponent Christian Rodriguez was heavy.

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While they’re happy to see Jake Hager (a.k.a. former WWE champion Jack Swagger) get some experience under his belt, Bellator are in no rush to throw him to the wolves. On Wednesday, Swagger’s previously announced fight at Bellator 221 had an opponent named: T.J. Jones. While top prospect Tyrell Fortune had called for a fight against Swagger, it seems Bellator is in favor of developing him slowly. MMA Fighting was first to announce the news.

Not a bad call, really. Swagger showed some solid fundamentals against J.W. Kiser at Bellator 214, but he remains a 1-0 pro getting a late start in MMA. However, his collegiate wrestling base could carry him far, and against Kiser, he displayed decent knowledge of the submission game.

Hager will turn 37 prior to Bellator 221, which takes place in Chicago on May 11. Jones (1-1), 28, will be making his first appearance since 2017 against the pro wrestling star. That was a win against Erick Braly at RCWC: Halloween Brawl On Boot Hill. Jones sealed the deal with an Americana in just under a minute.

Bellator 221 is headlined by a lightweight championship super-fight between Michael Chandler and featherweight champ Patricio Pitbull. With the pair feuding for years, fireworks are to be expected. Also on the card, the welterweight grand prix semifinal between Michael Page and ex-champ Douglas Lima.

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Bellator’s big weekend, with back-to-back events at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, is bringing with it some big news. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani broke the news Thursday that Bellator 221, going down on May 11 in Chicago, would bring with it a lightweight title fight when Patricio Pitbull (28–4) finally gets to settle a grudge against Michael Chandler (19–4). The featherweight champ will be moving up a weight class for the opportunity.

The rivalry between the pair began when Chandler knocked out Patricio’s brother Patricky under the Bellator banner back in 2016. All sorts of twitter lowlights followed, with Brazil’s Pitbull frequently accusing Chandler of performance enhancing drug use.

Chandler, however, was focused on life after losing the lightweight title to Brent Primus at Bellator NYC. Primus, for his part, did not fight between winning the belt in June 2017, until this past December. Chandler won the rematch via unanimous decision, and reclaimed the title in the process.

On his end, Pitbull (properly Patricio Freire) has won three straight starting with reclaiming his title from Daniel Straus in 2017.

Also on the Bellator 221 card, which takes place at the Allstate Arena, will be former WWE champion Jake Hager, better known as Jack Swagger. Hager/Swagger won his Bellator debut last month at Bellator 214, finishing J.W. Kiser with ease. As well, the welterweight grand prix semi-finals will see Douglas Lima take on the winner of this weekend’s Paul Daley vs. Michael ‘Venom’ Page quarter-final bout.

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Los Angeles, CA — On a night full of surprising outcomes and quick finishes, the MMA debut of former WWE champion Jack Swagger may have been the biggest. Because Swagger, fighting under his real name Jake Hager, did exactly what was expected of him. He went out, took opponent J.W. Kiser down, and won.

What surprised many is how good Hager looked doing it. Legit elbows from the top. A decent submission game. Of course, he was fighting 1-1 (as a pro, anyway) Kiser, not a world-beater by any stretch of the imagination. Still, Hager showed enough to make observers cautiously optimistic about his future in the sport.

Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Brock Lesnar, and Bobby Lashley, to date, have had the most success making the jump. Shamrock and Severn, though, juggled both careers early on, and were never looked at as purely pro wrestlers. Swagger, like Lesner, Lashley, and CM Punk, was seen by some as “just a pro wrestling guy.” Which ignores his amateur wrestling credentials.

Following Bellator 214, Swagger spoke of making the jump to MMA, calling it “an amazing opportunity that they [Bellator] gave me, to showcase something that I believed in myself.”

“I had so much fun out there,” he continued. “Really enjoyed this whole week, and the past year and a half have been such a positive experience on me and my whole family.”

Hager, as Jack Swagger, is the current Lucha Underground champion in the pro wrestling world, and has continued to find success there. MMA, however, appears to be his future. “I want to make this my main focus, I want to fight again very soon,” he told reporters, including Cageside Press, on Saturday. “I know I’ve got a lot of work to do. After tonight I’m very very eager to get back in with my coaches and my team and get back to work.”

Saying decisions on when and who he fights next are above his pay grade, Hager called his transition to the sport humbling. “One of the reasons why I wanted to cross over and do it with Bellator is because I knew we could make a big splash,” he said. “But I think the response this week has been way more than I ever expected. I had so many wrestling fans, so many of my friends that I’ve worked with over the last 12 years there reach out to me, it was really humbling, and at the same time exciting. This is very cool.”

“I’ll be the first to say I have a lot, a lot to improve on,” he went on to say. “I think it’s very exciting where I’m going to be in six months, where I’m going to be in a year, where I’m going to be in a year and a half. Maybe at that time I could fight someone like Ryan Bader. What a great performance tonight.”

Bader, of course, knocked out the legendary Fedor Emelianenko to win the Heavyweight Grand Prix, capping off an exciting evening.

So how did Hager prepare for his debut? “We really focused on my nutrition. Had a nice cold glass of oatmeal like right before we got on the show,” he revealed. “I feel like that really helped me with the warm-up and getting that first win going. Calm, relaxed, a slept a little bit, then had some cold oatmeal.”

As for opponent Kiser, Hager said that “I felt like he was doing a good job from the bottom, getting some shots in on there, and his hands did feel a little heavy at that time.” Other than that, he wasn’t really hit, perhaps once before the takedown.

Walking out, Hager/Swagger had another WWE star accompany him: R-Truth. Who provided Hager’s intro music. “Ron Killings, R-Truth, what an amazing performer,” Hager said of his pro wrestling pal. “His music career, it’s so fun to watch. It’s very cool to have one of your best friends out there.”

Killings even performed live during Hager’s entrance. “It’s like a storybook moment that just happened. I told him I wasn’t going to listen to him, because I might tear up,” he added.

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What’s a Bellator tentpole event without something of a freakshow fight? From the late Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000 to Gracie vs. Shamrock: The Geriatric Years, Bellator has not shied away from, shall we say, interesting booking. On Saturday at Bellator 214, they were at it again, with the debut of the recently signed Jake Hager, better known to WWE fans as Jack Swagger.

The promotion, which has done well with Bobby Lashley (a gifted enough heavyweight with a winning record), was no doubt hoping to find another crossover success with Swagger. And like Lashley, and Brock Lesnar, Hager/Swagger came in with legit collegiate wrestling experience.

Could he use that experience to upset J.W. Kiser? Kiser was a 1-1 fighter with a number of amateur, boxing, and unsanctioned fights. A realistic test for a newcomer.

Kiser opened the action landing a right hand, but that allowed Hager to drive him into the fence and quickly get the fight down. From there, Hager worked for a kimura, but was eating shots to the head from Kiser which seemed more annoying than damaging. Adding some smashing elbows, Hager then set up an arm-triange choke, and using his impressive size and strength, forced the tap soon enough.

⚡️ "WE THE PEOPLE" @RealJackSwagger#Bellator214 pic.twitter.com/esVLScLLYq

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) January 27, 2019

After a bizarre walkout that featured WWE’s R-Truth rapping, and clips from his pro wrestling career, Hager/Swagger proved he’s got some skills. Those elbows were no joke, and he certainly has some submission ability. He’ll need cage time, but he might actually make a go of this.

“I feel like hard work pays off!” Hager said after the fight. Saying he liked it at Bellator, Hager added “I plan on this being life for the next decade. As long as you guys keep wanting to see me out here, I’m going to keep bringing it.” Then finished with one more “we, the people” shout. We’ll give him that one.

Jake Hager def. J.W. Kiser by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 2:09

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Jake Hager, who previously wrestled under the name Jack Swagger in the WWE, is set for his Bellator debut in January 2019. Swagger wrestled for the company for close to a decade and held the promotion’s World Heavyweight Championship for a small stint in 2010. Hager, prior to the WWE, was an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, where he held the school’s record for pins in a season.

However, Jake Hager is far from the first to cross over from professional wrestling to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

For whatever reason, MMA has always been a sport that has had a crossover from other forms of entertainment. Everyone from former a Power Ranger in Jason David Frank, to baseball MVP Jose Canseco. But for whatever reason (likely due to collegiate wrestling experience), the sport of professional wrestling has always had the most crossover. Ever since the sport’s inception, the sport has had people coming and going from each entertainment medium.

So let’s take a look into the most interesting and noteworthy crossovers from the sport of professional wrestling into MMA.

Honorable mentions go to Dave Bautista, who beat the one and only Vince Lucero in his only professional fight. The late great Bam Bam Bigelow also got destroyed by Kimo Leopoldo in 1996 in Japan.

Ken Shamrock

There appears to be a common misconception regarding the career of UFC pioneer Ken Shamrock. The misconception being that Shamrock went from real fighting to the WWE, then back to the UFC, but there’s a deeper story than that.

Ken Shamrock began training for professional wrestling in 1986, being taught by the likes of Buzz Sawyer and Gene Anderson. Shamrock took a liking to the training and continued to train. He officially made his debut a couple of years later in 1990, under the name ‘Wayne Shamrock’ in ACW. Shamrock would then spend the next 3 years wrestling around the world, most notably in Japan in the Universal Wrestling Federation.

It was in Japan where he had his first legitimate fight. In October of 1992, Shamrock had a legitimate fight with kickboxer Don Nakaya Nielsen. It was not long after that Shamrock and other wrestlers decided that they would rather fight for real due to the success of the original fight with Nielsen. Not long after, Pancrase was formed.

In 1993, Shamrock won his first three fights in Pancrase. Soon after, he competed in UFC 1, where he began his rivalry with Royce Gracie, the first real rivalry in the history of MMA. Shamrock would then spend the next three years competing in MMA, capturing the UFC Superfight championship as well as the King Of Pancrase title.

In 1997, Shamrock left the sport of MMA for the WWE stage. Where he would have a prolific, yet short time in the company, deciding to leave in 2000. Shamrock would return to MMA at Pride Grand Prix 2000, defeating Alexander Otsuka. Shamrock would then falter in MMA, going 4-12 after that bout, including his trilogy with Tito Ortiz which helped save the sport of MMA.

Shamrock is likely the most successful crossover and most impactful crossover from the sport of professional wrestling.

Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley grew up the son of a military drill instructor, with his father stationed at Fort Reily in Kansas. There, he discovered his love for wrestling. He later would go on to attend Missouri Valley College where he was the NAIA National Champion at 177 pounds. Lashley would then go on to join the army, and his wrestling career was put on hold.

After his three year stint in the army where he continued to wrestle, he would sign with the WWE in 2004. It was there where cut his teeth under the ECW brand. Being pushed as a big star, he won the ECW championship in late 2006. However, his first stint with the company would come to an end in 2008 after suffering an injury. He was then released after coming back from surgery.

Lashley, after being released from the company, would then turn his attention to fighting. In the same year, he would make his MMA debut, winning it via TKO in December over Joshua Franklin. After winning his next three fights over the likes of Bob Sapp and Jason Guida, he was signed to Strikeforce. He was victorious in his debut fight over former UFC veteran Wes Sims at Strikeforce: Miami.

Seven months later, Lashley suffered his first career setback, losing to Chad Griggs via TKO in the second round. Not long afterwards, Strikeforce was closed and Bobby Lashley wasn’t brought over to the UFC along with the fighters who were left out, and just like that Lashley was back to regional promotions.

Over the next five years, Lashley quietly went 5-1 over his next six fights and was signed to Bellator. It is there where Lashley showed his skill as one of the promotion’s top heavyweights, winning five fights in a row in the promotion, including avenging a previous defeat in his career against James Thompson.

However, his last bout was in 2016, and with Lashley making a return to the WWE in 2018, it is unknown where his MMA career goes from here.

CM Punk

CM Punk in his peak was one of the biggest WWE superstars of all time. Holding the WWE title for 434 days, he was one of the top faces in the company for close to a decade. Having matches against the biggest stars on the biggest stage regularly did a lot of wear and tear on Punk’s body. Combine this with his ongoing issues with the management of the company, Punk controversially walked out on WWE in early 2014.

Flash forward 11 months later and UFC 181 is going down. Then, all of a sudden, there is CM Punk on screen being interviewed by Joe Rogan, being announced as the UFC’s newest signee to the roster. It’s worth noting that CM Punk outside of doing jiu-jitsu casually, and doing karate years prior, he had zero combat-training experience. It’s worth noting that during this interview, we got little to no answers as Punk didn’t know weight class he would be fighting in, when his fight would be, his opponent, or his training camp yet.

As time went on we slowly received those answers. In January of 2015, he began training under Duke Roufus at Roufusport MMA Academy in Milwaukee. Punk then went dark for close to a year, just training, keeping to himself and quietly getting better. It’s worth noting that Punk was going through a lot of injuries at this time as well.

That was until February of 2016 where Mickey Gall and Mike Jackson fought in what was dubbed as the “CM Punk Sweepstakes,” where the winner would face CM Punk later that year. Gall won the bout, and received the official shot at Punk at UFC 203 in Cleveland. After two years of nonstop training and getting prepared, Punk was dominated by Mickey Gall inside of one round via submission.

Punk them went underground once again for almost two years until the UFC made its big PPV return to Chicago at UFC 225. Realizing they could put Punk in another fight and likely make some good money off his name, they put the 39-year-old Punk in there with Mike Jackson, the man who previously lost to Mickey Gall two years ago.

Punk lost the fight by decision, looking better than his initial bout at 203, but still losing 30-26 on all three judges scorecards. As of December of 2018, Punk has yet to be released from the UFC but also isn’t likely to fight again for the promotion. So his fighting future is currently unknown.

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