Background
Then in one incident, his father had repeatedly beat his head in with a hammer leaving him unconscious and bloody.
Then in one incident, his father had repeatedly beat his head in with a hammer leaving him unconscious and bloody.
In addition to his fights in Bellator, Wagner has also fought in Titan Football Club. He gained fame for defeating former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, in only 32 seconds via TKO.
Abe describes his childhood something he survived more than enjoyed. Abe"s father would continuously violently beat Abe throughout his childhood. Abe said "he thought he was going to die".
He had enough and went and notified the police.
Abe was then placed into foster care after his father was put into prison. The foster family he had moved in with owned a dairy farm in Wisconsin, where he helped work.
Abe earned a football scholarship to Michigan Technical where he excelled at the linebacker position and earned a mechanical engineering degree. Wagner was featured in the inaugural fight of the season and lost his first fight to Jon Madsen via unanimous decision.
Wagner"s first fight after being on TUF was against Travis Browne.
Wagner lost via first round technical knockout. Duffee, however, pulled out of the fight and former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia stepped in as a replacement. Wagner upset Sylvia, needing only 32 seconds in the first round to stop Sylvia via punches.
However the fights" stoppage has since been deemed controversial, due to Sylvia"s post-fight comments where he stated that the referee came and apologized to his corner for stopping the fight too quickly and that despite stumbling when he got up, he gave the referee signs that he was still able to continue the fight.
Wagner"s next fight was at Titan Football Club 17: Lashley versus Ott where he lost to Aaron Rosa via Submission in the second round.
Bellator Fighting Championships
Wagner faced Eric Prindle at Bellator 52 in the opening round of the Bellator Heavyweight Tournament. He lost the back-and-forth bout via unanimous decision.
Wagner then faced Mark Holata at Bellator 69 on May 18, 2012.
Wagner was submitted at 2:24 in the first round via Achilles lock.
He was a cast member of SpikeTV"s The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, but has not fought for the UFC. Wagner earned a professional record of 7-2 on the local circuit before being picked to become a member of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.