MMAmania.com resident fighter analyst — and aspiring professional fighter — Andrew Richardson breaks down the mixed martial arts (MMA) game of UFC on FOX 18 headliner Ryan Bader, who looks to earn his title shot this Saturday (Jan. 30, 2016) inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
All-American wrestler, Ryan Bader, will look to take out former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title challenger and knockout artist, Anthony Johnson, for his own shot at gold this Saturday (Jan. 30, 2016) at UFC on FOX 18 inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Bader has been slowly improving for years now. This eventually allowed him to build his current win streak — the best of his career by far — and culminated in a clear-cut victory over Rashad Evans that was supposed to earn Bader a title shot.
However, Jon Jones’ return is imminent, so Bader was instead matched with “Rumble.” If Bader can overcome his opponent and his ferocious knockout power, there is absolutely no doubt that Bader has earned his title shot.
Let’s take a closer look at the contender’s skill set:
Striking
The most obvious improvements to Bader’s game have undoubtedly been in his stand up attack. He’s far removed from the one-handed slugger that won The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8, as Bader has really grown comfortable with his kickboxing.
In particular, Bader’s striking improved greatly in the nine months between his bout with Phil Davis and his most recent scrap with Evans.
Above all else, Bader has become much more fluid with his movement. Whether he’s actively attacking, feinting or simply circling around the cage, Bader no longer looks like he’s trying his hardest to strike. Instead, Bader is relaxed and confident, which by itself is a step forward for any growing striker.
The main reason for this is that Bader now understands distance far better and fights accordingly. Even just a year or so ago, it was not uncommon for Bader to lunge with his right hand despite being well out of the boxing range, or for him to stand still after throwing his own combinations, merely waiting for his opponent to blast him with a counter punch.
Times have changed.
Since it’s his most recent bout, let’s take a look at Bader’s duel with the former Light Heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans. Early on, rather than look to immediately move in with power punches or takedowns, Bader bounced around and attacked with long range strikes.
At first, Bader did a lot of work with his kicks. This is something of a new wrinkle to Bader’s offense, as he’s never been much of a kicker. Regardless, Bader scored well with right low kicks and a stepping left kicks. At one point later in the fight, he even landed a side kick.
While a solid addition to his game, the more important range strike for Bader was the jab. Bader has been slowly improving his jab for a couple of years now, and that was on full display. Across much of the fight, Evans was trying to crowd Bader and land power shots, but he instead walked into the jab numerous times.
Finally, Bader has been known for his big right hand since he first stepped into TUF house. While he’ll still look for the occasional looping overhand, on the whole he’s gotten far tighter with that shot. Additionally, he builds off his right hand well.
Against Evans, Bader did a couple of things very well to set up his right hand. While he was still primarily working from long range early in the fight, Bader would first use a level change feint before coming out of that lowered stance with his cross. In addition to helping him set up the takedown later on, Bader’s level change feint into the right hand allowed him to cover more distance and disrupt his opponent’s defense.
Additionally, Bader routinely attacked with both the overhand and the uppercut (or at least an upward angle on the cross). By mixing up which shot he threw pretty often, Bader made it difficult for his opponent to easily defend. Essentially, Evans could simply wait for Bader’s right arm to twitch and then block, as he had to wait and see whether the strike was coming under, over, or through his guard.
Defensively, Bader has gotten much better, particularly since he’s no longer lunging in. However, he still has the bad habit of circling into his opponent’s power, even if he is a bit more wary of it now. Additionally, Bader very often stands with his lead foot turned in, leaving him vulnerable to low kicks. Phil Davis and Evans both took advantage of this, though neither was able to fully commit to that attack and use it to turn the tide.
Wrestling
Bader is a two-time All-American wrestler from Arizona State University (ASU) and still trains with several of his former collegiate teammates such as C.B. Dollaway and Aaron Simpson. When looking for takedowns, Bader is a double threat in that he can transition between shots well or simply blast his opponent from one side of the Octagon to the other.
Bader primarily shoots his power double and usually sets up the shot by throwing a lead right cross. Bader often drives his opponent right off of his feet easily, but can often transition to another takedown or cut an angle mid-shot very effectively (GIF). In addition, Bader sometimes likes to finish his shot by hooking a leg behind his opponent’s feet.
In his last bout, Bader used reactive double legs rather well. Since his opponent was so intent on pressing him, Bader didn’t have to throw any punches to get his opponent out of position. Instead, he could simply change levels, catch him off-guard, and drive through.
If “Darth” pins his opponent against the fence with his shot, he likes to chain together different takedown attempts until one lands. He’ll start with a double, switch to a single and starting running the pipe, return to the double, and finish off with an ankle pick. When Bader is chaining techniques like this, it’s difficult to continually stop him.
Bader’s chain wrestling has been pretty visible in many of his fights, but most recently Bader really showed Ovince St. Preux the difference between a strong, athletic grappler and an All-American wrestler. Over and over, Bader simply outmaneuvered his opponent, repeatedly slipping past his early defenses to slam his opponent to the mat (GIF).
Inside the clinch, Bader is a physical beast. He especially excels from the back clinch, from which he can throw his opponent around like a sack of potatoes. In addition to just picking up and slamming his foe, Bader really likes to do a swift little kick out of his opponent’s foot, causing him to fall face first.
From the top, Bader has gotten very good at doing damage. He’s not an active guard passer, preferring to bide his time landing small shots inside the guard until he can posture up or stand. Once he has the space to work, Bader likes to dive in with power shots (GIF).
Furthermore, Bader really punishes opponent’s who attempt to stand, particular those who turtle up. It’s not a good idea anyway — it just feeds into Bader’s back clinch/lift and return most of the time — but Bader takes advantage with hard punches, or some brutal knees to the ribs (GIF).
On the whole, Bader’s takedown defense is excellent. He did just fine trading takedowns with Davis, and the only person to find real success with takedowns against Bader was Jon Jones years ago.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Even though Bader is primarily a ground-and-pound fighter, he will jump on his opponent’s neck given the opportunity. In addition to a rear naked choke and arm triangle on the regional scene, Bader submitted Kyle Kingsbury with an arm triangle on TUF.
Bader’s most impressive jiu-jitsu moment came in his bout with former Olympian Vladimir Matyushenko. After dropping “The Janitor” with a left hook, Bader secured a headlock as Matyushenko attempted to stand. From there, he tucked Matyushenko’s arm and head under his arm pit and shifted over to the side of the choke. Confident in his grip, Bader pulled guard and squeezed, finishing the arm-across guillotine (GIF).
This choke works the same as any other choke isolating the head and one arm, such as the D’arce, triangle, and anaconda chokes. As Bader’s arm cuts off one side of the neck, Matyushenko’s own arm is pushing in against the other side, effectively strangling both carotid arteries.
Bader’s defensive jiu-jitsu is an interesting question. He’s grappled with solid jiu-jitsu players like Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Anthony Perosh from the top with little to no issue but also was submitted by two guillotines in a row. However, since those submissions are now five years old and came after being rocked (Tito) and locked in the cage with an all-time great (Jones), it’s hard to read too much into them at this point in his career.
Bottom Line
Fan favorite or not, Bader has done a very admirable job of developing himself into a well-rounded, dangerous contender. Despite his improvement, many refuse to see Bader as a real threat to the championship. If, however, Bader can take out Anthony Johnson — not many 205-pound contenders are raising their hands, asking to fight “Rumble” — he absolutely must be taken seriously as an elite fighter.
*****
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, is an undefeated amateur fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.