Ryan Bader to become free agent after Antonio Rogerio Nogueira rematch at UFC Brazil

Ryan Bader is the latest fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster to decline a contract extension with the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world; opting to test the free agency waters.

“Darth” will fulfill the final bout under his current contract against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, which is set to go down this weekend (Sat., Nov. 19, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

After that, Bader and his team will re-open contract negotiations with the WME-IMG-owned fight promotion.

“They did offer use to re-sign, but it wasn’t nothing substantially crazy, so we just kind of declined and said we’d fight it out,” Bader recently told MMA Fighting. “It is what it is. There is no intent behind it. It’s my 18th or 19th fight in UFC and lets to get to that point, and hopefully I’ll have a little bit more leverage, and we’ll go from there.”

He continues.

“It’s just one of those things that’s like ‘Why not?’ But I do see my self still fighting in UFC,” he said. “It just made sense for us to take a fight and fight it out, go from there and just kind of bet on yourself. There was no real master plan or intent behind it other than that. It was just like, ‘Why not? Let’s fight this out,’” he added.

Betting on yourself can be a risky move. Yes, it worked for Alistair Overeem, who inked a new contract with the promotion back in early 2016 after knocking out Junior dos Santos in what was the final fight of his old agreement.

For others, it didn’t work out so well, as Rory MacDonald came up short against Stephen Thompson in his final UFC fight after revealing previously that he’d be testing free agent waters, too.

“Red King” went on to ink a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA soon thereafter. And while many former UFC fighters have found that the grass is just as green — if not greener — on the other side of the fence, Bader insists he loves fighting for UFC.

“That’s the beauty of being a free agent; it’s on the table. Like I said, I don’t necessarily want to leave UFC. I love fighting in UFC and I believe that’s where I will be, but you never know, it’s on the table. I’m not concentrating on that right now. I’m concentrating on the fight at hand and we will see after.”

Bader  — who is coming off a knockout win over Ilir Latifi — is 6-1 in his last seven outings inside the Octagon and holds a victory over the aforementioned “Lil’ Nog” dating back to 2010.

To learn more about the rematch, as well as the rest of the FOX Sports 1 fight card click here.

Ryan Bader is the latest fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster to decline a contract extension with the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world; opting to test the free agency waters.

“Darth” will fulfill the final bout under his current contract against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, which is set to go down this weekend (Sat., Nov. 19, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

After that, Bader and his team will re-open contract negotiations with the WME-IMG-owned fight promotion.

“They did offer use to re-sign, but it wasn’t nothing substantially crazy, so we just kind of declined and said we’d fight it out,” Bader recently told MMA Fighting. “It is what it is. There is no intent behind it. It’s my 18th or 19th fight in UFC and lets to get to that point, and hopefully I’ll have a little bit more leverage, and we’ll go from there.”

He continues.

“It’s just one of those things that’s like ‘Why not?’ But I do see my self still fighting in UFC,” he said. “It just made sense for us to take a fight and fight it out, go from there and just kind of bet on yourself. There was no real master plan or intent behind it other than that. It was just like, ‘Why not? Let’s fight this out,’” he added.

Betting on yourself can be a risky move. Yes, it worked for Alistair Overeem, who inked a new contract with the promotion back in early 2016 after knocking out Junior dos Santos in what was the final fight of his old agreement.

For others, it didn’t work out so well, as Rory MacDonald came up short against Stephen Thompson in his final UFC fight after revealing previously that he’d be testing free agent waters, too.

“Red King” went on to ink a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA soon thereafter. And while many former UFC fighters have found that the grass is just as green — if not greener — on the other side of the fence, Bader insists he loves fighting for UFC.

“That’s the beauty of being a free agent; it’s on the table. Like I said, I don’t necessarily want to leave UFC. I love fighting in UFC and I believe that’s where I will be, but you never know, it’s on the table. I’m not concentrating on that right now. I’m concentrating on the fight at hand and we will see after.”

Bader  — who is coming off a knockout win over Ilir Latifi — is 6-1 in his last seven outings inside the Octagon and holds a victory over the aforementioned “Lil’ Nog” dating back to 2010.

To learn more about the rematch, as well as the rest of the FOX Sports 1 fight card click here.