Jake Hager is back under the knife. The former WWE star and Bellator veteran had a second surgery on his injured eye this week after doctors discovered a detached retina, more than a month after his TKO loss at Power Slap 23 left him bleeding from the eye on live stream.
The update came from his fiance, Patricia Blackburn, through the Instagram account Slap News. According to the post, the retina was found to be detached this week and was surgically reattached, with doctors saying the procedure “went better than expected.” The same post asked fans to keep the couple in their thoughts during what it called a “very sensitive and unpredictable recovery.” Fightful and MMA Mania both carried the news.
Blackburn also left a comment thanking the promotion and its parent company. “I want to thank the UFC and Power Slap for their support and assistance,” she wrote. “I’m also deeply grateful to his medical team and everyone who has reached out, prayed, and shown Jake so much love.”
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How it got here
Hager, known to wrestling fans as Jack Swagger, signed with Dana White’s slap promotion in April 2026 on a six-fight deal, per Fightful. His debut went fine. He won by KO in Round 3.
Then the math turned on him. In July, Amanpreet Singh, who wrestles as Mahabali Shera in TNA, knocked him out. Two months later, on September 17, Hager took a run of heavy shots from Johnny Magna at Power Slap 23 and started bleeding from the eye. The bout was stopped and scored a TKO for Magna. Hager had emergency surgery that night and was then sent to a specialist, which is where the detached retina eventually turned up.
The Daily Mail ran its story under the tag “the worst injury in sport’s history,” and GiveMeSport used nearly identical wording about Power Slap specifically. MMA Mania pointed out that Hager isn’t the first slap competitor to suffer a serious injury, just the most famous one.
That leaves him at 1-2 in the promotion with four fights left on the contract. Fightful reported it’s unknown whether he’ll slap again.
All of this is happening while Power Slap keeps expanding. MMA Mania noted the promotion’s residency deal with MGM Resorts and its habit of popping up in cities alongside UFC events, plus White’s claim that the product pulls more views and follows than plenty of major leagues, and even Taylor Swift.
Sal’s take
I’ve spent 30 years pricing risk, and slap fighting is the rare event where I can’t find the value for the guy who signed the contract. Hager is a real athlete with real wrestling, and Power Slap’s rules hand that skill set zero equity. You stand there, you absorb, you hope. Two straight stoppage losses and a retina that needed reattaching is a bad trend, and four fights remaining on a deal doesn’t change the odds for an eye that needed two operations in about six weeks. If anyone at Power Slap is asking me, the smart line on Hager’s next slap is “never,” and I’d lay heavy juice on it.
