Tag: Ryan Bader

Bellator 273 Results & Highlights: Bader Defeats Moldavsky

Bellator MMA’s first event of the year has just wrapped up, and it featured a heavyweight title fight to determine their undisputed champion. Sitting champ Ryan Bader was in the light heavyweight World Grand Prix, so to keep the heavyweight division moving, an interim title fight between Timothy Johnson and Valentin Moldovsky went down last […]

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Bellator MMA’s first event of the year has just wrapped up, and it featured a heavyweight title fight to determine their undisputed champion. Sitting champ Ryan Bader was in the light heavyweight World Grand Prix, so to keep the heavyweight division moving, an interim title fight between Timothy Johnson and Valentin Moldovsky went down last June with Moldavsky emerging as the victor. 

Bader lost his semifinal bout in the Grand Prix, so at Bellator 273, he returned to heavyweight to determine who the true champion is. At media day on fight week, Bader said, “The last fight (in Phoenix at Bellator 268 on Oct. 16, 2021) was not the result we wanted. The crowd showed up. Arizona showed up. We packed the house. Let’s get a little redemption here in front of the home crowd.”

Below, you can find highlights from the main event that saw Bader retain the heavyweight championship.

Ryan Bader def. Valentin Moldavsky

Bellator MMA 273 Fast Results

MAIN CARD

  • Heavyweight Championship Bout: Ryan Bader © def Valentin Moldavsky via unanimous decision (48-47×3)
  • Benson Henderson def. Islam Mamedov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Henry Corrales def. Aiden Lee via unanimous technical decision (29-28, 30-27×2)
  • Sabah Homasi def. Jaleel Willis via submission (arm-triangle choke) R1 (1:42)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Enrique Barzola def. Darrion Caldwell via TKO (strikes) R3 (3:01)
  • Chris Gonzalez def. Saad Awad via knockout (head kick, punches) R1 (0:36)
  • Dalton Rosta def. Duane Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
  • Nikita Mikhailov def. Blaine Shutt via TKO (punches) R3 (3:23)
  • Lucas Brennan def. Benjamin Lugo via submission (arm-triangle choke) – R1 (2:27)
  • Sullivan Cauley def. Ben Parrish via TKO (punches) R1 (4:35)

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Ryan Bader vs. Valentin Moldavsky Heavyweight Title Fight Headlines Bellator 273

Ryan Bader will finally be defending his heavyweight title again.

Bellator announced on Monday that Bader will defend his heavyweight title against the interim champ, Valentin Moldavsky in the main event of Bellator 273 on January 29. The event wil…

Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader will finally be defending his heavyweight title again.

Bellator announced on Monday that Bader will defend his heavyweight title against the interim champ, Valentin Moldavsky in the main event of Bellator 273 on January 29. The event will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona and air live on Showtime.

Ryan Bader (28-7) has not fought at heavyweight since September of 2019 where he fought Cheick Kongo to a No Contest. Since then, he suffered a knockout loss to Vadim Nemkov to lose his light heavyweight title. “Darth” was then in the light heavyweight grand prix where he beat Lyoto Machida in the opening round before suffering a 51-second TKO loss to Corey Anderson in the semifinals.

Ryan Bader

At heavyweight in Bellator, Bader is 3-0 with one No Contest and won the vacant title after winning the grand prix. In the opening round, he knocked out King Mo in 15 seconds before winning a decision over Matt Mitrione. In the finals, he knocked out Fedor Emelianenko in 35 seconds to win the belt.

Valentin Moldavsky (11-1) is undefeated in Bellator and is the pupil of Emelianenko. In his last fight, he earned a clear-cut decision over Tim Johnson to win the interim heavyweight title. He’s 6-0 in Bellator with notable wins over Roy Nelson, Javy Ayala, and Linton Vassell. Prior to signing with Bellator, he competed in RIZIN and beat Karl Albrektsson among others.

Along with Bader vs. Moldavsky, Bellator announced former bantamweight champion, Darrion Caldwell will take on TUF: Latin America 2 featherweight winner and UFC veteran, Enrique Barzola. The fight will serve as Barzola’s Bellator debut, as he went 6-3-1 in the UFC and was not re-signed by the promotional after a draw against Rani Yahya back in March of 2020.

Who do you think will win, Ryan Bader or Valentin Moldavsky?

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Corey Anderson Blasts Ryan Bader in Seconds – Bellator 268 Highlights

Corey Anderson Ryan BaderFormer Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader faces former UFC standout Corey Anderson in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals at Bellator 268. Let’s find out who will get a spot in the finals. The fight opens up on the feet with both Anderson and Bader attempting to find their range with the jab. […]

Corey Anderson Ryan Bader

Former Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader faces former UFC standout Corey Anderson in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals at Bellator 268. Let’s find out who will get a spot in the finals.

The fight opens up on the feet with both Anderson and Bader attempting to find their range with the jab. Just a minute into the fight, Anderson lands a massive right hand right behind Bader’s ear that drops him down to the canvas below. Anderson follows it up by landing some vicious ground-and-pound strikes that end up finishing the fight in one of the biggest wins of his career.

Anderson came into the fight off back-to-back wins in this new chapter of his career, after an up-and-down tenure in the UFC. Anderson has seemed to found a new home in Bellator after his vicious knockout of Bader to move on to the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix finals.

Corey Anderson knocked out former Bellator champion Ryan Bader in 51 seconds to move on to the finals at Bellator 268

Bader came into the fight after a dominant performance over Lyoto Machida in the first round, and was looking to get revenge against Vadim Nemkov if he could get past Anderson. But, it wasn’t meant to be and Bader will now focus on defending his heavyweight title in Bellator.

Anderson will get his first title shot after falling short time and time again in the UFC. His last fight with the promotion ended on a sour note, as he lost via TKO to the eventual light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in a UFC Fight Night headliner. Before that, Anderson had won four fights in a row over the likes of Glover Teixeira and Johnny Walker.

Check out the incredible knockout below, as Anderson moves on to the Grand Prix finals with a title on the line.

Corey Anderson: I Made More Money In Two Bellator Fights Than UFC Career

Bellator light heavyweight Corey Anderson is happy with his switch from the UFC and believes the gamble paid off ‘big time’. Corey Anderson is scheduled for a 205-pound contest against the current Bellator heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader, at Bellator 268 this Saturday (Oct. 16, 2021). Bader, also a former Bellator light heavyweight titleholder, will meet […]

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Bellator light heavyweight Corey Anderson is happy with his switch from the UFC and believes the gamble paid off ‘big time’.

Corey Anderson is scheduled for a 205-pound contest against the current Bellator heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader, at Bellator 268 this Saturday (Oct. 16, 2021). Bader, also a former Bellator light heavyweight titleholder, will meet Anderson in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout. The winner is poised to potentially earn a $1 million payday in the finals of the tournament.

This will be Anderson’s third fight since leaving the UFC after losing to Jan B?achowicz in 2020 by knockout in round one. The American admits his risk-taking already paid off following two Bellator TKO victories.

Ahead of their showdown this weekend, Corey Anderson shared on a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour how happy he is to be fighting for Bellator.

“Oh yeah, (the gamble) paid off big time. I made a post after my second fight, like UFC gave me a career, but Bellator gave me the life. After the first check, my wife didn’t have to work, I bought her a new car. I fly my family out to fights now, I can go on vacation, I can do whatever, because I’ve made more money here in two fights than I did in my whole career in the UFC,” Anderson said.

With high praise like this coming from a former UFC veteran, it appears a spot on the Bellator roster might start becoming increasingly difficult to turn away from.

Are you surprised to hear Corey Anderson’s claim about the pay gap between the UFC and Bellator?

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EXCLUSIVE | Corey Anderson Expects His Hand To Be Raised In Victory At Bellator 268

Corey AndersonCorey Anderson predicts he will beat Ryan Bader in the #1 V #2 match up that will determine who goes through the final of Bellator‘s light-heavyweight Grand Prix. Bellator 268 has a slew of great light-heavyweight fights including a battle of former UFC contenders Corey Anderson and Ryan Bader. Bader is the current Bellator heavyweight […]

Corey Anderson

Corey Anderson predicts he will beat Ryan Bader in the #1 V #2 match up that will determine who goes through the final of Bellator‘s light-heavyweight Grand Prix.

Bellator 268 has a slew of great light-heavyweight fights including a battle of former UFC contenders Corey Anderson and Ryan Bader. Bader is the current Bellator heavyweight champion and the former light-heavyweight champion. Bader has impressed only losing once in the promotion to the current light-heavyweight champion Vladim Nemkov. Over the past four years since joining the promotion has gone 6-1-1(NC), holding wins over the likes of Fedor Emilianenko, Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida.

Since leaving the UFC, where he was ranked #4, Anderson has gone 2-0 in Bellator, beating Melvin Manhoef in his debut and Dovletdzhan Yagshirmuradov in the quarter-final of the Grand Prix.

In an interview with LowKickMMA, Anderson had this to say about Bader, “He’s well rounded but not as well as me.” When asked about a prediction, Anderson replied, “I see my hand raised in victory.”

Across the bracket Vladim Nemkov defends his title against late replacement Julius Anglickas, who is stepping in for Anthony Johnson.

“Oh 100%” replied when asked if he was disappointed to see Anthony Johnson was out. “Rumble is a friend of mine, every time we talk we’ve talked quite a few times during the tournament, and every time we talk whether it be in person or on the phone, it would always with an ‘alright bro, I’ll see you in the finals.’”

Anglickas will be coming in as a big underdog against Nemkov who is currently ranked #4 pound-for-pound on Bellators official rankings. Anderson had this to say on his chances “He’s got really crisp, basic striking but it works but the thing to deal with the champ he needed more time to prepare for a fight like that.

“He’s not as fast and athletic to deal with Nemkov’s movement and pressure.”

What do you think? Who wins, Corey Anderson or Ryan Bader?

Bellator LHW Grand Prix Semifinals To Take Place On Oct. 16

Bellator has announced that the semifinals for its light heavyweight grand prix will take place on October 16. The promotion revealed the news on Saturday, the same day as its Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee broadcast. The event will take place in the …

Bellator has announced that the semifinals for its light heavyweight grand prix will take place on October 16. The promotion revealed the news on Saturday, the same day as its Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee broadcast. The event will take place in the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The double-header will feature reigning light heavyweight […]

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