Ryan Bader News

Harry Kettle - December 16, 2020

Bellator stars Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader are set to meet in a short notice grappling match at Submission Underground 19. Bader will be stepping in on short notice to take on Johnson as a replacement for Fabricio Werdum. The two men have actually met before in a professional MMA bout, and on that occasion back in January 2016, Johnson scored a knockout win inside the first two minutes of the fight.

Adam Martin - August 23, 2020

Former Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has released a statement following his brutal TKO loss to Vadim Nemkov. Bader saw his eight-fight unbeaten streak snapped at the hands of Nemkov, who brutally finished Bader in stunning fashion in the main event of Bellator 244. After dropping Bader with a high kick, Nemkov was able to unload punches until the referee was forced to step in and stop the fight, crowning Nemkov as the new Bellator light heavyweight champion.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

On Friday night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with the stacked Bellator 244 card. The event, which will air on the Paramount Network and DAZN, will be topped by a light heavyweight title fight between the champ Ryan Bader, who also holds the promotion’s heavyweight strap, and challenger Vadim Nemkov.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, who is gearing up for a title defense against Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244, believes he could be the best light heavyweight competing right now. Bader, who was previously a top-5 UFC light heavyweight, believes that with Daniel Cormier retired, and Jon Jones moving up to heavyweight, he has legitimate claim to that lofty label.

Harry Kettle - July 30, 2020

Bellator double champion Ryan Bader is set to return to light heavyweight for the first time since 2017 to defend his championship against Vadim Nemkov, ESPN reports. Bader has been at the helm of two divisions since he knocked out Fedor Emelianenko in January 2019, but he first won the Light Heavyweight Championship in June 2017 before defending it five months later against Linton Vassell.

Adam Martin - May 31, 2020

Bellator double champion Ryan Bader told UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones that he would “love to run it back” under the Bellator banner. Bader and Jones fought back at UFC 126 in 2011 when both were still rising contenders in the UFC light heavyweight division. In a battle between the two top prospects in the division, Jones came away with the victory when he submitted Bader with a guillotine choke. Jones would then take on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 and win the UFC light heavyweight title. The rest, they say, is history.

Cole Shelton - May 15, 2020

Ryan Bader makes it very clear he is not scared of Cheick Kongo and will rematch him after he defends his light heavyweight title. In the main event of Bellator 226 last September, Bader was looking for his first title defense at heavyweight against Kongo. Early on the champ-champ was having success yet there was an accidental eye poke leaving Kongo unable to continue and the fight ended in a no-contest.

Cole Shelton - May 8, 2020

Ryan Bader was expected to defend his light heavyweight title on May 9 against Russian contender, Vadim Nemkov. Yet, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic leaving Bader uncertain when he’ll defend his 205-pound strap next. Bader, who has not fought since September against Cheick Kongo in a controversial no-contest, is eager to get back in the cage.

Cole Shelton - January 25, 2020

Ryan Bader will look to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time since November of 2017. On the Bellator 238 broadcast, Bader announced he will battle Vadim Nemkov on May 9 in San Jose, California at Bellator 243. The champ-champ recently revealed he was going to defend the light heavyweight title on social media.

Adam Martin - January 14, 2020

Bellator champ-champ Ryan Bader will take a break from the heavyweight division as he moves back down to light heavyweight to defend his belt there in April. Bader himself announced Tuesday on his Instagram that he will be moving back down to 205lbs to defend his light heavyweight title. An opponent, date, or venue were not disclosed by Bader, but he told fans to expect news soon.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

CB Dollaway’s RIZIN debut, which went down on Tuesday’s action-packed RIZIN 20 card, didn’t go the way he had planned. Instead, the 20-fight UFC veteran was decimated by the promotion’s ferocious light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the first round. See Prochazka’s crushing knockout victory below (via Kyle Johnson on Twitter).

Adam Martin - December 27, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker says that Bellator heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader will defend both of his belts in 2020. Bader is coming off of a No Contest against Cheick Kongo in his first Bellator heavyweight title defense. He spent all of 2019 up at heavyweight, and hasn’t fought at light heavyweight since November 2017. But he plans on moving back down a weight class for his next fight, according to Coker.

Thomas Taylor - September 22, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos thinks reigning UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones is the best fighter in the world today. In fact, dos Santos believes Jones would do very well if he made the move up to the heavyweight division. “Jon Jones is the No. 1 baddest guy on the planet… actually, he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world, so I think he could do very well in the heavyweight division,” dos Santos told MMA Fighting.

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2019

Cheick Kongo was fighting for the heavyweight title against Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 226. It was a chance for the 44-year-old Frenchman to win a major MMA title, something that has eluded him thus far in his career. Unfortunately for Kongo and his team, things didn’t go as planned. Instead, the fight was ruled a no-contest after an accidental eye poke from Bader. The champion has since gone on social media posting videos saying there was no eye poke. Kongo, however, says he was poked in the eye, and the nose.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 226. This stacked card was topped by a heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Ryan Bader and Bellator staple Cheick Kongo. Elsewhere on the card, we witnessed four of the quarterfinal bout for Bellator’s 16-man Featherweight World Grand Prix, in addition to a number of other exciting matchups.

Adam Martin - September 9, 2019

Bellator and RIZIN are eyeing a year-end show in Japan featuring some of the best fighters from both promotions. Reports indicate Bellator president Scott Coker and RIZIN bossman Nobuyuki Sakakibara are in talks for a main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, as well as a light heavyweight co-main event between Ryan Bader and Jiri Prochazka. Veteran MMA scribe Josh Gross of The Athletic shared the news via Twitter that Bellator and RIZIN hope to have a card December 29 in Japan, and they hope to bill it as Emelianenko’s final fight in Japan.

Adam D Martin - September 8, 2019

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson took to social media to criticize Ryan Bader for the way his fight ended against Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226. The fight ended in the first round after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye, which led to the doctor stopping the fight. It was declared a No Contest due to an accidental foul.

Adam D Martin - September 8, 2019

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Ryan Bader nearly got into a brawl following a disappointing end to Saturday night’s Bellator 226 event. With the Bellator heavyweight championship on the line, Bader and Cheick Kongo fought to a No Contest after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye and the doctor stopped the fight when he couldn’t see. However, there was some controversy as many viewers and even the commentators believed it was a punch and not an eye poke that led to the damage in Kongo’s eye.