Hardened fight fans would have been forgiven for approaching Jake Hager’s transition from professional wrestling to mixed martial arts with some trepidation. After CM Punk’s highly-publicized yet ultimately fruitless foray into “real fighting” with the UFC, which consisted of two emphatic defeats, there was a lingering sense of pessimism as Bellator went to the well themselves and signed the man known in most parts as Jack Swagger.
Any thoughts that Bellator’s answer to Brock Lesnar was not cut-out for the fight game and was ill-advised in switching career paths were dispelled very quickly this past Saturday night – in two minutes and nine seconds, to be exact – as Hager notched a flawless debut victory over J.