Undefeated UFC light-heavyweight fighter Ryan Bader (12-0) will probably face one of his toughest opponents yet when he steps into the octagon to face Jon “Bones” Jones on Feb. 5th at UFC 126.
In a recent interview, Bader talked about the time he fought at a Vale Tudo event in Mexico, where the ring was just lines spray painted on the ground. Joining him were current UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and UFC middleweight C.B. Dollaway.
Apparently the trip there was something to behold just in itself, and while Bader would win his fight Velasquez’ opponent would back out after taking one look at him.
It was actually C.B. Dolloway, myself and Cain Velasquez, all on the card. We weighed-in on the bathroom scale in a hotel lobby near the Mexico border. A bus took us to the border and we walked through with our bags and ended up walking a half-mile into Mexico to a bus that took us to a bull-fighting ring.
We warmed up in the ring and it was just lead paint on the ground. It was as hard as concrete. I actually had a slam where my opponent hit his head on the ground and it knocked him out. Cain’s guy backed out. He saw Cain and said, “hell no, I’m not fighting him.”
That’s actually how Cain got in the UFC. His manager called Dana White and said, “I have this guy, he’s legit but he can’t get any fights.” That was the last fight he tried to get. Five or six people had backed out on him. He got a private workout with Dana and they signed him. Now look at him.
Check out the rest of the interview with Bader at LasVegasSun.com.