Tag: Valentin Moldavsky

Ryan Bader Beats Valentin Moldavsky In Thriller – Bellator 273 Highlights

Ryan Bader, Valentin MoldavskyIt was far from an easy matchup for Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, but he won the later rounds of the fight to retain his title at Bellator 273. Bader made his long-awaited return to heavyweight after a long stint in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix. He lost in the semifinals to Corey […]

Ryan Bader, Valentin Moldavsky

It was far from an easy matchup for Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, but he won the later rounds of the fight to retain his title at Bellator 273.

Bader made his long-awaited return to heavyweight after a long stint in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix. He lost in the semifinals to Corey Anderson in his last outing, eliminating him from attempting to get his 205-pound belt back.

Bader nearly finished the fight in the opening seconds with a strong flurry on Valentin Moldavsky. He wobbled Moldavsky bad with punches before Moldavsky was able to move the fight to the clinch and stop Bader’s advance.

Moldavsky found a rhythm in Rounds 2 and 3, using his trademark wrestling to control the pace of the fight. But, he didn’t put out a lot of offense once he got top position on Bader.

Bader and Moldavsky were dead even heading to the fifth and final round. Moldavsky’s boxing proved effective in the first half of the round, but Bader used his clinch work and elbows up against the fence to stifle Moldavsky.

After five exhausting back-and-forth rounds, the judges gave Bader the 48-47 unanimous decision victory over Moldavsky.

Following the win, it was announced that Bader will defend his heavyweight title against Cheick Kongo in May. The card is slated to take place on May 6 in Paris, FR.

Bader has already confirmed that he won’t fight at 205 pounds for the remainder of his MMA career. He looked strong and energetic at heavyweight and doesn’t have to worry about brutal weight cuts at this stage of his career.

With the win, the 38-year-old Bader further proves that he’s still one of the most elite fighters in the world with an all-time gritty performance at Bellator 273.

Highlights from Ryan Bader vs. Valentin Moldavsky

Check out the highlights from the heavyweight showdown between Bader and Moldavsky at Bellator 273.

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 […]

Continue Reading Bellator 273 Results & Highlights: Bader Defeats Moldavsky at MMA News.

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)

Continue Reading Bellator 273 Results & Highlights: Bader Defeats Moldavsky at MMA News.

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?

Continue Reading Ryan Bader vs. Valentin Moldavsky Heavyweight Title Fight Headlines Bellator 273 at MMA News.

Bellator Announces Interim Heavyweight Title Bout for Bellator 261

Bellator 261 will be headlined by their first Interim Heavyweight title fight between the No. 1 ranked heavyweight Tim Johnson (15-6) and No. 3 ranked heavyweight Valentin Moldavsky (10-1). As Scott Coker alluded to when he addressed the media after Be…

Bellator 261 will be headlined by their first Interim Heavyweight title fight between the No. 1 ranked heavyweight Tim Johnson (15-6) and No. 3 ranked heavyweight Valentin Moldavsky (10-1). As Scott Coker alluded to when he addressed the media after Bellator 256, on Friday just before Bellator 258 the match was announced officially by Bellator […]