Jack Swagger wins MMA debut at Bellator 214

Jake Hager, the former WWE champion known as Jack Swagger, won his professional MMA debut Saturday at Bellator 214, submitting J.W. Kiser in the first round.

Hager (1-0) took a Kiser punch early and immediately worked for a takedown, using his amateur wrestling background to control him on the ground. After working for a kimura, he broke Kiser’s defensive position and landed some big elbows that hurt him.

Hager worked into position for a head and arm choke and tapped Kiser (1-2) fairly quickly at 2:09 of the first round without even having proper positioning with his legs.

Former WWE co-worker R-Truth rapped during Hager’s entrance and used his old “We The People” WWE catchphrase in his video and in his post-fight promo.

In his post-fight promo, Hager didn’t say a lot of note other than he wanted to make Bellator his home and fight a lot over the next decade. When John McCarthy asked Hager about advice he got from his “old boss” Vince McMahon, Hager said, “Sometimes to convince Vince, you have to con Vince” which McCarthy really didn’t know how to follow up on.

Here’s a look at his entrance.