Former WWE Champion Batista is helping Jake Hager, also known as Jack Swagger in WWE, prepare for his Bellator debut.
Batista previously fought in MMA, winning his debut in 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PUv0NKu5M
The 35-year-old former champion announced his decision in early November that he'll jump to Bellator in 2018.
Hager spent 11 years working for WWE both in its developmental territories and as a mainstay on both RAW and SmackDown prior to his release last March. During that span, he won the World Heavyweight, ECW and United States Championships and was also a Money in the Bank winner.
Hager was a standout amateur wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, where he set the school single-season record for pins with 30 in 2006 and was an All-American for the 285-pound weight class.
Last month, the former champion revealed his interest in pursuing a career in mixed martial arts.
Batista announced less than a week ago that he was "in direct talks" with Vince McMahon over a WWE return.
According to the man himself, while speaking on The Ross Report (H/T SEScoops), Batista is interested in a full-time return, including house shows.
Batista's last run resulted in "Bootista," where fans revolted against The Animal's one-night rise back to the top, winning the 2014 Royal Rumble over fan-favorite Daniel Bryan. Of course, Bryan would finagle his way into the main event at WrestleMania, pinning Batista clean to win the World Heavyweight Championship on the grandest stage of them all.
Whether this would be his final run is unknown. Batista has commented that he'd like his last match to be against Triple H.
Batista is a four-time World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WWE Champion, Monday Night Raw Tag Team Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion.
