Jack Swagger returning to Bellator MMA in October
Former WWE Champion Jack Swagger (aka Jake Hager) will return to action this October for Bellator MMA.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported Wednesday night that the heavyweight will compete in his third pro fight at Bellator 231 against Anthony Garrett, set for October 25th at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena.
The 37-year-old Hager is 2-0 in his young MMA career with two first round submission victories, both coming this year. The 29-year-old Garrett is 4-2 and his six fights have all come in St. Louis’ Shamrock FC promotion. His last outing was a TKO loss in June.*
The two men actually have a common opponent in J.W. Kiser as Garrett defeated him by TKO in his final amateur fight.
The show will also feature the promotional debut of former UFC fighter and current Bare Knuckle FC Champion Bec Rawlings in addition to a main event of Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson 2, a rematch from their UFC days.
*An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Garrett hadn’t competed in two years.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.