Jon Jones might not be competing in the octagon any time soon, but he has just announced that he’s expecting to compete in a grappling match with wrestling and Bellator star Jake Hager. Hager is an undefeated heavyweight competitor under the Bellator banner with three wins and a no contest over the last two years, but he is perhaps best known for his performances in the WWE ring where he used the name Jack Swagger. He also claimed that Fury Grappling are the number one grappling organization in the world, which is a bit of a bold statement considering the promotion have only just staged their second event.
Moreover, the biggest star to compete for Fury Grappling so far has been Danielle Kelly and UFC Bantamweight veteran Merab Dvalishvili. If they were able to book Jon Jones against Jake Hager, or any other opponent for that matter, then that would now be the biggest name that has competed under their banner. While the match would undoubtedly be interesting, there’s other competitors who have already put their name forward as potential opponents for Jon Jones that would likely have a better chance of success than Jake Hager.
Jon Jones originally announced the grappling match with Jake Hager in a post to his official Twitter account:
The original tweet has now been deleted by Jones, no doubt as a result of the response he received from Hager where he was put firmly in his place. Hager corrected Jones on several points, firstly that he actually competes for AEW on TNT rather than WWE when he wrestles and secondly that his actual name is Jake Hager as opposed to Jack Swagger, which was a pseudonym he no longer uses any more. Most devastatingly however, Hager stated that the match in question has not actually been booked at all as he has not yet been offered satisfactory terms or signed a contract for it:
First of all it’s @AEWonTNT and undefeated @BellatorMMA heavyweight Jake Hager, secondly no terms have been discussed or contract signed. We can talk if terms are right. https://t.co/6ScRt0gNmj
— Jake Hager (@RealJakeHager) November 20, 2021