Ryan Bader News

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.

Chris Taylor - September 7, 2019

Ryan Bader put his heavyweight title on the line against Cheick Kongo in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 226 event in San Jose. Bader (27-5 MMA) had captured the promotions vacant heavyweight title this past January at Bellator 214, defeating MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko by first round knockout.

Chris Taylor - September 7, 2019

Ryan Bader puts his heavyweight title on the line against Cheick Kongo in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 226 event in San Jose. Bader (27-5 MMA) captured the promotions vacant heavyweight title this past January at Bellator 214, defeating MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko by first round knockout.

Cole Shelton - September 6, 2019

In the main event of Bellator 226, Ryan Bader looks to defend his heavyweight title for the first time when he takes on Cheick Kongo. The champion is currently a -350 favorite at 5Dimes while the challenger is a +250 underdog. Ahead of this Bellator 226 fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. This time around, the pros are unanimous as they all believe Ryan Bader will defend his belt against the 44-year-old Frenchman.

Cole Shelton - September 3, 2019

When Ryan Bader was in the UFC, Daniel Cormier called him the easiest fight in the light heavyweight division. Yet, a fight between the two never came to fruition and as “Darth” left in free agency for Bellator. Even though Ryan Bader is in Bellator, he still wants that fight and revealed he and his management reached out to the UFC for a cross-promotional fight with Cormier.

Cole Shelton - September 2, 2019

Cheick Kongo will soon have a chance to become a heavyweight champion in a major promotion for the first time in his career. The 44-year-old Frenchman will take on Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 226 this Saturday. The training camp preparing for Bader has not been an easy one for Kongo. He knows the Bellator champion is an elite wrestler so in preparation he brought in world class, Olympic-level wrestlers to help him for this camp.

Cole Shelton - August 22, 2019

Bellator president, Scott Coker took a lot of flak for his recent tweet suggesting Ryan Bader is the best heavyweight in MMA right now. Most fans and analysts believe Stipe Miocic, who reclaimed the UFC’s heavyweight belt this past weekend in Anaheim, to be the current ‘baddest man on the planet’.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Ryan Bader, Bellator‘s resident two-division champ, is now set to defend his heavyweight strap. Bader, who also owns the light heavyweight title, will make this defense opposite fellow UFC veteran Cheick Kongo. The fight will go down at Bellator 226 on September 7 inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California. This card will also mark the beginning of Bellator’s anticipated featherweight Grand Prix.

Tom Taylor - May 27, 2019

For a brief period, it looked as though Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader would meet in the UFC. Unfortunately, the matchup never materialized, and the two wrestling specialists went their separate ways. Today, both men are hovering at the pinnacle of the sport in different promotions. Bader currently holds the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles in Bellator. Cormier, meanwhile, briefly held the same titles in the UFC, though he relinquished the light heavyweight belt.

James Lynch - April 10, 2019

Bellator’s two division champion is staying put. To no one’s surprise, Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has re-signed with the promotion. According to MMAFighting it’s an exclusive, multi-year deal with the promotion. Bader (27-5) has yet to lose a fight under the Bellator banner. After years of coming up short for a UFC title shot, Bader captured the Bellator light heavyweight title in his promotional debut in 2017, defeating Phil Davis in a rematch at Bellator NYC. Following a stoppage victory over Linton Vassell at Bellator 186, the 35-year-old would step up a weight class and compete in the Heavyweight Grand Prix. From there, the Power MMA and Fitness product would stop Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at Bellator 199 and dominate Matt Mitrione at Bellator 207 on route to a unanimous decision victory.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2019

When Cheick Kongo handed former Bellator champ Vitaly Minakov his first loss on the main card of Bellator 216 on Saturday night, he earned himself a shot a reigning Bellator heavyweight champ Ryan Bader. He did not hesitate to call Bader out at the Bellator 216 post-fight press conference.

Tom Taylor - February 11, 2019

Daniel Cormier recently became the first fighter in UFC history to wear the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles concurrently, first capturing the vacant belt with a defeat of Anthony Johnson, then thumping Stipe Miocic to capture the heavyweight belt. Ryan Bader recently accomplished the same feat under the Bellator banner, first defeating Phil Davis to win the light heavyweight belt, and then defeating Fedor Emelianenko to capture the vacant heavyweight belt.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2019

Shortly after Ryan Bader became a two-division Bellator champion with a first-round knockout of heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 214, he was called out by former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz. Speaking on Twitter, Ortiz announced his intention to fight Chael Sonnen in a ‘tune up fight,’ and then take the Bellator light heavyweight title from Bader.

Mike Straus - January 28, 2019

Bellator 214 is in the books and the first event of the year for the Viacom owned promotion definitely had some memorable moments. Whether you were tuning in to watch the conclusion of the World Heavyweight Grand Prix or if you were tuning in to watch one of the sport’s most promising prospects in Aaron Pico, Bellator 214 delivered.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

Fedor Emelianenko had the chance to make history on Saturday night, as he battled Ryan Bader in a bid to become the Bellator heavyweight champion in the Bellator 214 main event. Unfortunately for the 42-year-old Russian MMA legend, however, things did not go as planned in this fight. Instead, he was knocked out in less than a minute. Speaking on Instagram late on Sunday, Fedor Emelianenko updated on his health in the wake of this loss.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, in the main event of Bellator 214, Ryan Bader became Bellator’s first two-division champion by knocking out Fedor Emelianenko to capture the heavyweight strap. At present, it’s not known whether Bader will defend his heavyweight or light heavyweight belt first. Whatever the case, Chael Sonnen seems interested in being his first challenger. On Saturday night, shortly after Ryan Bader won the strap, Chael Sonnen called him out on Twitter — though he promptly deleted the Tweet.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, in the main event of Bellator 214, light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader became Bellator’s first two-division titleholder, knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in less than a minute to capture the Bellator heavyweight title. Heading into this fight, Ryan Bader says he drilled the very punch he used to topple Emelianenko many times. He knew there would be an opening when the Russian legend engaged, and practiced extensively to make sure he’d be ready for it.