If the name Anthony Garrett doesn’t immediately ring a bell, perhaps a recap of his most notable fight to date will serve as a reminder.
Remember when Bellator heavyweight Jake Hager kneed that one dude twice in the junk, and the guy collapsed to the canvas, writhing in pain?
That’s Anthony Garrett.
“The whole Jake Hager incident was just absolutely ridiculous,” Garrett told MMA Junkie. “I did, cooly enough, get sponsored by Diamond MMA after it, which was awesome. I had like a crappy Sports Academy-bought Under Armor cup, and when he kneed me, I felt like I wasn’t even wearing a cup, you know?
“I’ve been kicked with the Diamond MMA one, and I’m not trying to, like, shout out their sponsorship, but I’ve been kicked in sparring full-go and for real didn’t feel anything. But when he kneed me, oh my god, I dropped like a sack of potatoes and literally couldn’t continue.”
Referee Dan Miragliotta was in charge of the contest and deemed the knees as unintentional, resulting in the Bellator 231 bout being declared a no contest.
After the fight, Hager told the media he didn’t think he had actually landed to the groin and that Garrett simply “wanted out of the cage.” It’s a claim Garrett firmly denies.
“The funny thing is, and I tell everybody about it, there’s a video that Bellator posted of the doctor telling me backstage that my testicles are swollen, and they were, and Jake Hager is trying to call me, you know, like a p*ssy,” Garrett said. “I’m like, ‘Dude. What is – like, what?”
That initial meeting happened two years ago, and “Lionheart” has been trying to book a rematch ever since. He says even willing to give his entire paycheck to Hager to take the bout.
“I’ve talked to him privately on Instagram and offered him my full fight purse just to fight again,” Garrett said. “I just want to punch him in the face, and he won’t take the fight. He probably thinks I’m crazy, but he won’t take the fight.
“The funny thing is, too, I messaged him on Instagram on our fight day anniversary, and I was like, ‘My testicles say hello.’ He looked at it but didn’t respond. He probably didn’t look at. He probably has, like, somebody that does it for him. But it said ‘seen,’ and I was like, ‘You little p*ssy. Just fight me.’ He’s a scrub and a nobody.”
Garrett has stayed busy in the two years since the incident, competing four times in MMA, as well as taking a professional boxing contest, as well as a few grappling matches. He was supposed to compete for Bellator again in 2020 but tested positive for COVID-19 and was pulled from a planned Bellator 254 matchup with Davion Franklin.
He actually wouldn’t mind getting his hands on Franklin, either, after the heavyweight prospect also briefly suggested Garrett’s withdrawal seemed a bit suspect – until Bellator officials told him they had seen the positive COVID tests.
“The crap he said and the crap he tried to pull after the fight, you know, being like, ‘Oh, he’s a f*cking p*ssy. He’s scared,’ and I’m like, ‘Dude, no one’s afraid to fight you,’” Garrett said. “Nobody. First of all, you’re not that good. You know, he is a big dude, but he’s really not, like, a stud. He’s not outrageously terrifying. I’d fight him right now.”
As you can see, Garrett (6-4) has a few possible matchups on the horizon that wouldn’t take much effort to sell. But first, he’s lined up to face Robert Drysdale black belt Marcelo Nunes (6-1) at CFFC 103, which streams on UFC Fight Pass from Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Miss.
Garrett knows he’s facing a world champion grappler but believes he’s got the tools necessary to prove victorious in an MMA bout.
“I’m excited,” Garrett said. “Literally no fear going into this one at all. I’ve had some pretty, big, tough, intimidating opponents, and he’s a big dude, but I’m bigger. He’s not normally a heavyweight, so I’m excited just to see how it goes, and I’m really not afraid of him on the ground.
“Like, I don’t want to boast too much and be sounding cocky, but I’ve rolled in tournaments against black belts and beaten them. I know he’s a stud, but if I can handle tons of black belts in the absolute divisions of tournaments that they put on here in the States, I think if you combine the punching, the kicking, the wrestling, the whole game of MMA, I think it’s going to be a pretty fair fight. I really do.”
A win against such a world-class opponent would certainly prove valuable in Garrett’s efforts to rebook one of those two opponents he so desperately wants to meet. He knows some of it falls out of his control, but he plans on doing everything he can to face Hager again – though he’ll settle for Franklin, too.
“Jake won’t fight anybody real, which, you know, to each his own and he’s doing his thing with AEW, so props to him for making his money,” Garrett said. “But if you want to be a fighter or just fight somebody that’ll give you a real look, you know where I am.
“But it’s whatever. Like, I’ll fight Davion if he wants to. I think he’s a f*cking little ass clown for saying what he said and then taking it all down.”
Anthony Garrett wants revenge on Jake Hager, will fight for free: ‘My testicles say hello’
