NEW YORK – Jake Hager made quick work of spontaneous fan-favorite T.J. Jones at Bellator 221 in May. While Hager’s performance was swift and dominant, his post-fight antics were what going people talking.

After Jones tapped emphatically on the back of Hager to signal the end of the of the fight, “Jack Swagger” held the arm triangle choke for a few more seconds.

Referee Mike Beltran dove in and eventually yanked Hager off. As a result, the former WWE champ was showered with boos from the crowd in Rosemont, Ill. during his post-fight interview. Hager ate it up and, to use a pro wrestling phrase, “turned heel” on the crowd, dropping a few pre-prepared one liners in the process.

At Bellator 231 on Friday, Hager (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) will return for his third professional outing when he takes on Anthony Garrett (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the main card.

What will the crowd reception be when Hager makes the walk to the Bellator cage once again?

Cheer or boo, it’s all the same to Hager.

“I really don’t care,” Hager told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I don’t see it as overshadowing. I look at it as me understanding the importance of the entertainment side of things. Honestly if you think about it, that promo afterwards was almost as big as the fight itself. So what are people going to remember? Are they going to remember that arm triangle? Or are they going to remember me getting after it a little bit? It’s all about making people feel a certain way. As long as they do that, I’m winning.”

Having little MMA experience while competing on a big stage like Bellator has its downside. But in Hager’s mind, he has advantages having come over from the world of pro wrestling.

“I come from an entertainment side,” Hager said. “Twelve years ago, coming out of college as a Division 1 All-American, I would have been just another MMA fighter wanting to get in front of the camera and talk about how tough I am and how I’ll fight anybody. Now that I understand the entertainment side of it, I understand you need vulnerability and you need emotion and you need people to respond a certain way. That’s all mixed together.

“In 2020, you’re only going to see more fighters taking those fighters like that. We’re all out here trying to grow our own brand. That’s our five minutes right there where we have the opportunity where we can say whatever we want and we can get away with it.”

Whether fans love him or hate him, Hager has learned through professional wrestling it’s best to get a reaction rather than no reaction. Recently, Hager returned to pro wrestling when he signed on with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Hager is interested to see how much his pro wrestling antics play in the MMA sphere.

“It’s going to be very interesting,” Hager said. “I debuted with AEW in the meantime, so I’m very interested to see how the fans will respond to that. I’m sure most of them are going to remember that second fight and they’re going to think that I’m playing games or I’m not being professional.

“In this day and age, everybody is going to have something to say, so you can’t go around worrying about it. The biggest thing for me is you just need to react one way or another.”

For more from Hager, watch the video linked above.