Jack Swagger has been biding his time and not diving in to anything too quickly since he was granted his release from WWE. He recently told us that he was in no rush to sign any long-term contracts or become too ensconced in the independent wrestling scene just yet.
That doesn’t mean he’s not a staunch supporter of alternatives to WWE; in fact, he recently put out a call for fans to stand up to WWE by patronizing the indies. But now we might finally know why Swagger was biding his time, or at least one of the reasons he’s been tied up in outside ventures: Jack Swagger will be an MMA fighter.
The champion amateur wrestler and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has talked before about the possibility of stepping into the cage, much like CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashely, and even Batista have done before him. Now it looks like it’s going to become a reality.
Swagger appeared on Ariel Helwani’s “MMA Hour” on Monday and announced that he has signed with Bellator and will be fighting in the heavyweight division. Bellator shared this video of Swagger shortly afterward.
Just announced in studio on #TheMMAHour with @arielhelwani, @RealJackSwagger is now a part of the heavyweight division! #BellatorNation pic.twitter.com/6VXMACJQkX
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 13, 2017
Bellator whiffed on signing Ryback following the Big Guy’s departure for WWE, but it looks like they haven’t missed out on Swagger. For those unfamiliar with Bellator, they’ve been signing a slew of huge MMA names this year, and will be presenting a Grand Prix heavyweight tournament in January. That tournament will feature stars including Matt Mitrione, Frank Mir, Rampage Jackson, King Mo, Chael Sonnen, Ryan Bader, and Fedor Emelianenko.
So Swagger is certainly going to be in good company in terms of star power, and has had a longstanding interest in MMA (as well as a long friendship with Sonnen and other fighters). This is one future endeavor where we’ll all be wishing him the very best of luck.
