It has been a long time coming for former Worland native J.W. Kiser, the 40-year-old mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter is days away from battling in the biggest fight of his career. Kiser is set to fight on the main card in the heavyweight feature for Bellator 214 against former WWE star Jack Hager aka Jack Swagger, at the L.A. Forum in Inglewood, California, this Saturday.

The narrative leading up to Kiser's fight at Bellator 214 feels like it could be a spinoff film from the Rocky franchise. You have the experienced fighter in Kiser, who ground his way up the ranks to earn this spot at Bellator, going against the super athlete Swagger, who after a successful career in the WWE is trying his hand at MMA.

Growing up in Worland, Kiser started boxing at 14 years old at Mac McBride's gym. In his adult years, his fighting interests moved to MMA, in which he won several fights here in Worland and in Wyoming. Wanting to keep rising through the ranks, with the ultimate goal of being a professional fighter, he moved to Kansas four years ago to give himself a better shot at achieving his goal.

The move certainly paid off and all the sacrifices to this point have paid off because on Dec. 1, 2018, at the KC Fighting Alliance 31, in Kansas City, Missouri, Kiser defeated Michael Edwards by way of first-round knockout. Twelve hours after his win, Bellator came a calling, wanting to sign him to a one-fight contract with the potential of a multi-fight extension, if he is victorious Saturday night.

"I don't think that it will really sink in until I get to LA," said Kiser when talking about the reality of fighting at Bellator 214. "It's all very surreal. My manager told me three days before the fight [KC Fighting Alliance 31] that Bellator wanted me to fight against Jack Swagger, so I needed to win this fight in KC."

Having a fight so soon after the KC fight puts Kiser in a unique position in terms of training, on one hand, there's no time off for him. After that knockout win against Edwards, it was right back into training camp for Kiser, meaning grueling two-a-days while preparing for an opponent with different strengths and weaknesses. The potential to overexert and cause injury during this second training camp is a real possibility and it is why Kiser and his camp are closely monitoring his body.

On the other hand, for all the grind surrounding back-to-back training camps, Kiser is going to be in top form when Saturday rolls around, which certainly helps when one is fighting in the biggest fight of their career.

"The benefit of coming off a fight and going from one training camp right into another one is definitely beneficial for me. During training camp, you're pushing yourself to the max. I'm doing two-a-days five days a week. With a guy my age we have to make sure we don't overtrain, but I'm in pretty good shape and I'm ready for this fight," said Kiser.

Kiser's opponent Swagger is fighting in his first ever MMA event, after signing with Bellator on November 17, 2017. Swagger is a two-time WWE champion and was a decorated Division-I All-American heavyweight wrestler at the University of Oklahoma in 2006.

Swagger signing a deal back in 2017 means that he's being groomed to be one of Bellator's up and coming stars. The fact of this isn't lost on Kiser, but that doesn't mean he plans to be meat for Swagger. If anything it's more motivation to grab that W.

"He's a wrestler and I'm not talking just WWE. Before that, he was a D-I All-American wrestler from Oklahoma. He's 37 but he's a beast wrestler," said Kiser. "They picked me for that reason, I'm a B-list fighter and they're looking to get him a win. But he's never been hit on the chin before and this is his first fight ever. He's a world-class athlete but a lot of guys can't handle being hit on the chin, so we'll have to see how it goes."

Styles make fights and with Swagger having a background in wrestling and Kiser being a freestyle fighter, it will be interesting to see which fighter will be able to force their will the best. Having battled to get to this point, Kiser believes his experience in the cage will give him an advantage as well.

"I'm freestyle. I've got some jujitsu experience but I like to sprawl and brawl. I don't like to go to the ground or wrestle. I want to knock people out, I have 19 knockouts for my career, it's definitely my forte.

"If I got anything going into this fight it's my experience and being able to take a punch. You can train your whole life for an MMA fight but the one thing you can't teach somebody is how to breathe when you're in the cage. That comes with experience and experience only," said Kiser.

No matter the outcome Saturday night, the significance of reaching this level of MMA is certainly going to be appreciated by Kiser. Win, lose or draw he'll look back on Saturday with pride.

"I went from 14 years old boxing in Worland, traveling around the state boxing to finishing my career in Los Angeles in the iconic L.A. Forum in front of 40,000 people," said Kiser. "It doesn't get any better for a guy, regardless what happens from here on out with my career, this was the moment that defined me."

The Paramount Network will broadcast Bellator 214 and DAZN.com will carry the livestream of the main card.