PHOENIX – WhenRyan Bader stepped into the cage Saturday, ghosts of a devastating October loss still loomed large at Footprint Center.
However, Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) silenced many critics and doubters when he defeated then-interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky (11-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) via unanimous decision in a title unification bout at Bellator 273.
“It felt so good, considering the last fight,” Bader told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at a post-fight news conference. “If I were to have had a fight that I lost but it was going back-and-forth or even if we went the whole (five rounds). But the last fight was just under a minute. It was anticlimactic. To go out there and have an exciting, heavyweight championship five-rounder with a tough, tough dude in Arizona? I wanted that bad.”
Bader, 38, admitted he checked out the betting odds prior to the fight and saw the bookmakers counted him out. That further lit a fire under the former UFC contender, who wasn’t willing to lose in front of his home crowd for the second straight fight.
“MMA is a weird, fickle sport,” Bader said. “They can look at your last fight, even though it’s big guys, small gloves, throwing at each other – the best in the world. You take one step back and people write you off. They don’t look at your body of work. It’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ I always knew I was going to feel good coming up at heavyweight. This is where I wanted to be. I saw those odds and was like, ‘Awesome. They’re counting me out. Now is the time to shut everybody up and keep this train rolling.’ Because I know I’m one of the best in the world and I can be on any given night.”
There wasn’t much time for Bader to breathe after the fight before his next task was laid out in front of him. Immediately after the belt was wrapped around his waist, Bader was informed by his manager, Dave Martin, that he’d be fightingCheick Kongo in a rematch May 6 in Paris. The two squared off following the conclusion of Bader’s in-cage interview.
The first meeting between Bader and Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) took place at Bellator 226 in September 2019. The fight ended in a no contest when Bader poked Kongo in the eye inadvertently.
“I mean, unfinished business, right?” Bader said. “I always wanted to get that fight back. He was talking so much sh*t from after I poked him in the eye. I’m like, ‘Dude, there’s video of you wincing and it’s in your nose.’ Again, he came out last fight with, ‘I’ll beat your ass in Paris,’ and all this sh*t. Whatever. So, yeah, I like that fight. I’ve been asking for that fight forever. I wanted to run that back before I went down to light heavyweight. So now we get to do it.
“… I’m comfortable at this weight. I’m no longer going back-and-forth. I’m going to be even better coming in at heavyweight. Because I just fought at light heavyweight in October and then put on weight to fight in January. Now I’m a heavyweight. I can just actually get in my body.”
