A Bellator press release earlier this week teased the announcement of an ‘international star’ being added to the fight league’s roster — and that name has been revealed today as being that of 77-times capped former Wasps, England and British and Irish Lions flanker James Haskell.
Haskell will compete in the Bellator heavyweight division after he stepped away from a professional rugby career in May and has previously trained with the organisation’s welterweight star Michael ‘Venom’ Page, as well as providing commentary duty at live MMA events.
His debut is expected to come in the first half of 2020.
In a previous interview, Haskell spoke of his fondness for mixed martial arts saying that it, “builds strength and endurance and has helped me to manipulate and move people on the rugby pitch.”
The Englishman has played in two World Cups and won three Six Nations titles, including the 2016 Grand Slam, and joins ex-rugby alums like Alexander Volkanovski, Cathal Pendred, John Hathaway and others as athletes who have traded the rugby pitch for the mixed martial arts cage.
