Jake Hager’s MMA fight ends in a no contest after illegal low blows

Jake Hager’s fight against Anthony Garrett last night at Bellator 231 ended in a no contest due to illegal low blows from Hager.

The referee ruled that both strikes were unintentional and therefore went to no contest rather then disqualifying Hager and awarding the fight to his opponent. The fight did not last long and referee Dan Miragliotta waved it off after less than two minutes on the clock.

This was Hager’s third MMA fight for Bellator and remains undefeated even though there’s a small blemish on the record now. The fight opened the main card on Paramount.

Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara from his Inner Circle faction were also at the show and the AEW logo was displayed on the banner. Former WWE World champion Batista was also in attendance and took a photo with all members of the faction.

During the post-show press conference, Hager denied illegally hitting the low blow and thought his opponent wanted an excuse to leave the cage. “I’m obviously disappointed with the finish tonight,” Hager said. “I didn’t think I hit him at all. Is it something I’d be interested in running back? I don’t know. It didn’t seem like he wanted to fight tonight, so what’s going change the next time? Is he really going to want to fight next time? I’m a competitor. I’m a fighter. I’m doing so much right now trying to get myself better. For him to do something like that? Whatever.”

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