At one time, Ryan Bader was hyped to be perhaps the next great thing in mixed martial arts at 205 pounds. The former college wrestler turned light heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter, was well on his way to contending for a title when he fought fellow up-and-comer Jon “Bones” Jones at UFC 126.
Bader lost that fight in rather embarrassing fashion, getting pummeled all around the cage by the bigger, more athletic and apparently more “UFC-ready” opponent. Most fans seemed to give Bader a pass on that loss, though, as Jones would soon become the UFC light heavyweight champion.
It was Bader’s surprising loss to Tito Ortiz just a few months later that really turned heads.
The UFC gave Bader one more chance against Jason Brilz this past November at UFC, and he took advantage of it, knocking out the Omaha native early in the first round. But it wasn’t until UFC 144 on Saturday, when he was finally given another chance to compete against a top-level opponent when he battled former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
“To lose two in a row, you’ve really got to step back and be like, ‘What am I doing wrong?'” Bader said in his post-fight interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I’ve grown so much as a fighter, mentally and physically. I think everything just kind of came together.”
That improvement showed on Saturday, as he was able to fend off and control Jackson from bell to bell, earning a unanimous decision victory despite being a fairly significant underdog coming into the bout.
Bader remained the underdog despite Jackson weighing six pounds over the 205-pound weight limit and essentially admitting that he was injured in some way going into the fight. This type of excuse-making before a fight is usually against ethics, but it didn’t seem to bother Bader.
“We have a job to do and we don’t really worry about the opponent. We go in there and perform and that’s all we can do for our job,” Bader said.
Still, it was suddenly tough to believe that Jackson wasn’t working as hard for this bout as he had for others in the past.
“Maybe he didn’t train the hardest he could have, maybe he overlooked me,” Bader prophesied. “Especially with him missing weight, you’re kind of like ‘Oh did he not train for this fight? Did he not respect me?’ But I don’t care. I came out and did my job which is to win. I don’t get my feelings hurt.”
The fact that Jackson may not have trained as hard for the fight might have been a small shot to Bader’s ego, but he still looked at it as perhaps the most important moment of his professional career.
“It’s the highlight of my career,” he said. “I’ve had a couple highlights like winning The Ultimate Fighter but you’re really not in the UFC then. That was cool at the moment. And then fighting your first big name like [Keith] Jardine and [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira. And then getting a win like this. I grew up watching the guy. He’s one of my favorite fighters and to be able to fight him, let alone in Japan, and beat him, it’s a surreal experience.”
Now back on the right path to success, Ryan Bader has once again established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the light heavyweight division.
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.
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