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#2 He could be a drawing card for Bellator – and so they need him to win
Sure, MMA is a hugely unpredictable sport, and we see massive upsets seemingly every month either on one of the myriad UFC cards that take place, or on one of the various Bellator events. But even taking this unpredictability into account, promoters can quite often match fighters in such a way that the competitor they want to win usually comes out on top.
Saturday’s fight between Jake Hager and JW Kiser at Bellator 214 should be one of those occasions. Despite being the UFC’s nearest rival promotion, realistically Bellator are simply miles behind the WME-headed juggernaut. And with this in mind, they need every possible drawing card they can find. It’s why they try so hard to steal free agents away from the UFC, and it’s why they promoted fighters like Kimbo Slice, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie.
With his WWE background, Jake Hager is almost definitely a possible drawing card. He doesn’t have the star power of Brock Lesnar or even CM Punk, but he was a former WWE champion and is clearly a recognisable star. So of course, it makes sense that Bellator would love for him to win on Saturday. And in a world where upsets happen – witness Zach Freeman stunning the highly touted Aaron Pico in his MMA debut – it’s important to match someone like Hager carefully.
Thankfully, Kiser looks like the perfect type of opponent. Freeman was coming into his fight with Pico with a record of 8-2 – a pretty strong level of experience compared to his debuting opponent. Kiser on the other hand has a 1-1 record according to Bellator, but Sherdog.com has him at 0-1, and he’s also 41 years old. That sounds like favourable matchmaking for Hager to me, and it’s another reason why he should win handily.
