Bader embarks on Bellator double
Light heavyweight champ eyes heavyweight
SAN JOSE – For Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, the past is in the past. All that matters to him is the future.
On Saturday night at SAP Center, Bader (24-5) meets Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (21-6-1) in the last quarterfinal of the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix. The bout serves as the main event to Bellator 199, with the winner advancing to face Matt Mitrione in the semifinals of the tournament that will crown a new heavyweight champ by year’s end. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen already is booked as the other semifinal.
If Bader can pull off three wins in a row to claim heavyweight gold, he’ll find himself in rare company of being a dual champion of a major mixed martial arts promotion.
Just four UFC fighters — Randy Couture, Conor McGregor, B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre — have held titles in two weight classes, with McGregor the only one to simultaneously achieve that feat. Bellator, meanwhile, has had only one dual champion in its nine-year history, Joe Warren, who claimed featherweight gold in 2010 and won the bantamweight title in 2014.
The meaning of becoming the first simultaneous Bellator champion isn’t lost on Bader.
“Two belts in two divisions would kind of solidify my life’s hard work,” Bader said. “I kind of pride myself on being the hardest worker in the room and have been for the past 10-plus years I’ve been doing this sport.”
Bader, a former All-American wrestler at Arizona State, caught his big break in MMA in 2008, when he won The Ultimate Fighter reality TV tournament to earn a UFC contract. He was victorious in his first five UFC fights before hitting a rough patch, going 3-4 during a 21⁄ 2- year span. That included losses to former champions Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida and Tito Ortiz.
Bader snapped out of it, though, in a big way, but he never received a UFC title shot despite reeling off five consecutive wins for a second time. He was released by the UFC and signed with Bellator last year and immediately fought for the promotion’s 205-pound title, winning a split decision from then-champion Phil Da- vis last June. Bader enters the Bellator heavyweight grand prix having won nine of his last 10 fights, which includes a defense of his title.
Holding the light heavyweight title means a lot to Bader. But for now, his business at his usual weight class is on hold. His sole focus is on winning Bellator’s heavyweight title, which is bigger than just himself.
“To put my head down for this next year and come out with two belts, that would just vindicate everything — all the sacrifices that, not only I’ve made, but my family, my friends, my coaches, my teammates around me made,” Bader said. “That’s going to definitely be the highlight of my career.”