Tag: Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader is a bad, bad man.

With his 15th victory inside the Octagon, Bader finished Antonio Nogueira in the third round Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was a dominant performance from the No. 4-ranked light heavyweight contender, who has to be calling the UFC brass looking for a top-five fight or even a title fight in the foreseeable future. 

Nogueira showed off his chin and his will as a fighter, but the fight could’ve been stopped in the first round. That’s how bad Nogueira was getting beaten up.

Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson are set to fight each other at UFC 206 on Dec. 10, so either Bader fights Alexander Gustafsson when he comes back healthy, or he waits for the winner of Cormier vs. Johnson. Either way, Bader has earned his spot with the division’s elite fighters. 

      

Results

Sergio Moraes def. Zak Ottow via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

Kamaru Usman def. Warlley Alves via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 29-28)

Kryzsztof Jotko def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Claudia Gadelha def. Cortney Casey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Thomas Almeida def. Albert Morales via TKO at 1:37 of R2

Ryan Bader def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via TKO at 3:51 of R3

      

Moraes edges out the decision

Sergio Moraes won over the judges in front of a home crowd in a tightly contested affair against Zak Ottow. Ottow was on his back for the majority of the first round despite the fact that Moraes was very ineffective while in top control. 

Moraes didn’t do much at the start of the second round and would only really put together a couple of combinations that seemed to do any real damage to Ottow.

It was clear that Moraes was gassing out toward the end of the second round, and Ottow was actually the more aggressive fighter in Rounds 2 and 3, which is what makes two judges scoring the contest 30-27 in favor of Moraes so interesting.

It was a close fight for sure, but 30-27 from two judges for Moraes? It’s a head-scratcher, to say the least.  

       

The Nigerian Nightmare puts UFC on notice 

Give credit where credit is due. Kamaru Usman showed the UFC that he is much more than just a grappler against Warlley Alves on Saturday.

Usman was lethal with his striking, combining hooks with elbows and body kicks that left Alves guessing what was coming rather than reacting to his opponent. 

It was a dominant performance form Usman who never looked like he was losing this fight. Alves is a very tough fighter who nearly had a guillotine attempt in the third round, but he couldn’t get a proper grip with his back against the fence.

For Usman, he’ll be looking a for a ranked fight the next time he steps inside the Octagon. In fact, he’s made it clear who he wants next. 

With Demian Maia in line for a title shot, it would be a shock if Usman and Maia fought each other. But if it does somehow happen, Usman will be gifted the opportunity for a meteoric rise in the welterweight division rankings. But be careful what you wish for; Maia is not a fighter to be played with. 

      

Jotko is no joke

For those of you who haven’t heard about Kryzsztof Jotko before Saturday night, allow me to introduce the new breed of competition in the UFC’s middleweight division. 

His striking, work in the clinch and dominance in the ground-and-pound was evident against Thales Leites, who is no easy fight by any means. To put this win in perspective, Jotko just rag-dolled a guy who lost a very close split-decision fight to Michael Bisping in July of 2015.

Jotko is the real deal and will likely get a top-10 opponent the next time he steps into the Octagon, and deservedly so.

      

Gadelha solidifies herself as No. 1 contender

Claudia Gadelha should’ve gotten a point taken off for an illegal kick to Cortney Casey’s head as she was trying to stand up, but it really didn’t matter in the end.

Gadelha tossed Casey around the entire fight, and credit to Casey, she stood tall and tried her best to exchange with Gadelha. But the Brazilian’s level of wrestling and striking far outmatched her opponent on Saturday. 

There was a brief moment that could have cost Gadelha the fight with an illegal kick that glanced off the top of Casey’s head, which led to some debate of whether or not Casey was actually hit by the kick or milking it for a disqualification. 

After a performance like that, it looks like Gadelha will be hoping for another shot at the title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. 

       

Almeida rebounds, puts on a show

There’s nothing like a good, old-fashioned slugfest, and that’s what Thomas Almeida and Albert Morales gave those in attendance in Sao Paulo.

Even though Almeida got the finish, Morales showed that he belonged in the Octagon Saturday night.

Morales caught Almeida a couple of times in the first round before Almeida began connecting with Morales’ chin, but he fought like a man with nothing to lose. And when you’re an unranked fighter going up against one of the best prospects in the bantamweight division, sometimes that’s the best way to fight.

Almeida is one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC, and it looks like he’ll be getting a shot at a top-five contender next. 

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