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Jake Hager admits he is still green to the sport of MMA, but he expects his athleticism to expedite his journey to the heavyweight title.
Jake Hager predicts he will score big-name fights in Bellator by the end of 2020.
Hager (2-0) spoke to Bloody Elbow about his MMA career and how it intersects with professional wrestling ahead of Bellator 231.
“I’m still very green and very new to competing in professional MMA fights, but I feel a lot more confident in my abilities,” he confessed.
When asked when he expects to be in the title picture, he had this to say: “One of the blessings of being new to this sport is I can hide behind that when it comes to questions like this.”
“I’m very excited with what I see and I’m very excited when I see the competition for the heavyweight title,” he continued. “I think I’m athletic enough to go in there right now – of course I don’t have all the tricks and the techniques of a veteran or champion like Ryan Bader yet – but I’m feeling this for a reason. I’m doing this to make money, to set my family up and to help become a more popular professional wrestler. To that I’m going to need to take the big fights. I see them coming, you know, maybe end of next year.”
Some may consider that a lofty prediction, but Hager is riding a lot of momentum when it comes to betting on himself. Hager’s future was uncertain when the man known as Jack Swagger left WWE in 2017. He parlayed his pro-wrestling fame into a thus far successful professional fighting career and parlayed that success back into pro-wrestling with upstart company All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Hager (2-0) fights his biggest test to date in the form of Anthony Garrett (3-1) at Bellator 231 on Friday, Oct. 25. The event is headlined by Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson II.