Ryan Bader News

Chris Taylor - April 9, 2021

Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida will rematch in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 256 event. The bout will serve as part of the opening round of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament.

Harry Kettle - April 8, 2021

Ryan Bader isn’t willing to vacate his Bellator Heavyweight Championship as he prepares to enter the promotion’s light heavyweight tournament. Bader has been one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in Bellator for a few years now and while he may be moving into the twilight of his career, it definitely feels like he has the chance to cause some real damage in the aforementioned tournament.

Adam D Martin - February 10, 2021

Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader will not be stripped of his title, according to Bellator president Scott Coker at Tuesday’s presser. The promotion officially announced the eight-man, Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament. In one of the quarterfinal matchups, Bader takes on Lyoto Machida in a rematch. On paper, that’s a fun fight and having Bader included in the tournament is a good thing. However, while he competes to win back his old light heavyweight title in the bracket, Bader is temporarily holding up heavyweight. He’s still the champion and has no plans to give up his belt.

Harry Kettle - December 21, 2020

Ryan Bader and Donald Cerrone picked up big wins in what proved to be an entertaining night of action at Submission Underground 19. Chael Sonnen’s SUG promotion has been able to draw in some of the biggest names in mixed martial arts over the years, and that trend continued last night as several current and former UFC & Bellator stars hit the ground for some fun grappling exchanges.

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.

Tom Taylor - August 12, 2020

Two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader believes fellow UFC veteran Corey Anderson made the right decision moving to Bellator. Bader, who rules over the Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, weighed in on Anderson’s Bellator move in an interview with MMA Fighting.

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.

Adam Martin - March 30, 2020

Bellator announced on Monday that it is postponing three of its upcoming events including a card that was set to be headlined by double champ Ryan Bader. Most sports leagues around the world have postponed their upcoming cards due to the coronavirus outbreak, and Bellator will not buck the trend. While UFC president Dana White is doing everything in his power to go through with UFC 249 in three weeks’ time despite the risk, Bellator president Scott Coker instead is playing it safe and postponing three cards. The promotion released a press release Monday with the news.

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.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2019

Shortly after Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo’s Bellator 226 title fight was ruled a no contest due to an inadvertent eye poke, Bader and Kongo’s training partner Quinton “Rampage” Jackson nearly got into it. UFC legend Tank Abbott, an other Kongo stablemate, attempted to join in the fracas, but couldn’t make his way to the cage.

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.