Ryan Bader, who meets Fedor Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator heavyweight title on Saturday, doesn’t plan on getting caught up in the fact that he’s fighting one of the sport’s greats.
Ryan Bader knows Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, but he believes Emelianenko’s opponents generally give him too much respect in the cage.
And that is something he plans on avoiding when he meets Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator heavyweight title in the Bellator 214 main event on Saturday. The fight, which takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California, is the final of the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix.
“If you look back in the Chael fight, we didn’t get to see too much, he looked great. He’s unpredictable and a little bit of that is people respect him too much,” Bader told MMAWeekly.com. “I felt like Chael (Sonnen) respected him too much.
“In the (Frank) Mir fight, he did get dropped right out of the gate. Before that he got dropped and knocked out by Matt Mitrione. The fight before that against Fabio Maldonado, he got dropped a bunch of times. I do feel like I can definitely put some hands on him.”
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Bader has been in the MMA game for a long time — his resume includes a lengthy run in the UFC, and most recently, a light heavyweight title-winning run in Bellator. Of course, Emelianenko is the more tenured fighter of the two. Unsurprisingly, Bader believes Emelianenko’s best days are behind him. That said, Bader understands he still has knockout power, and that’s something he still has to be careful of this weekend.
“My honest opinion of him I think he’s very dangerous,” Bader said. “I go back and watch his fights and obviously analyze it and he has that power. … He comes in there and he throws bombs. He comes in there in the first-round throwing bombs.”
Bader feels what he offers, wrestling and improved striking, fedor hasnt seen in awhile
Bader started out as primarily a wrestler, but over the years, his striking has improved drastically. He said Emelianenko hasn’t fought anyone like him in a while — if ever — and he’s definitely not worried about Emelianenko taking the fight to certain areas.
“He’s fought other wrestlers here and there, but when going way back,” Bader said of Emelianenko. “Yeah, he fought Dan Henderson years and years ago — and he ended up getting knocked out. I feel like he hasn’t fought a guy like me in a long time.
“I’m going to keep that pressure on him the whole time. I know I can strike with him, I feel like I can go to the ground with him, I can do everything. I feel confident going into this fight.”
Bellator 214 airs live on Paramount Network and DAZN at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.