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#2 Bader’s never actually beaten a genuine top Heavyweight
A few years ago, a picture circulated across the internet that showed Ryan Bader posing with his old friend from Arizona State, then-UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. A lot of fans immediately noted that Bader naturally looked much bigger than Cain, and thus a move to Heavyweight could be good for him at some point in his future.
It’s unsurprising therefore that the move to Heavyweight has worked out pretty well for ‘Darth’. Having said that though, I don’t think anyone would argue that his move to fight the big boys has gone down like say, Alistair Overeem’s in the mid-2000s when he beat top 5 contender Sergei Kharitonov in his divisional debut.
Thus far Bader has had 2 fights at Heavyweight; his debut there saw him stop Muhammed Lawal with strikes, but then ‘King Mo’ is also a natural 205lber who was moving back up to compete in Bellator’s Grand Prix. He then beat Matt Mitrione – a true Heavyweight in terms of his size, but also a man who’s always struggled with his takedown defense and ground game – essentially music to the ears of a wrestler like Bader.
Fedor might have a horrendous knockout loss to Mitrione on his record, but in MMA styles make fights, and a limited knockout puncher like ‘Meathead’ was always going to be a tricky prospect for the ageing Russian, who just isn’t as durable as he was in his prime. Essentially I wouldn’t use it as evidence to suggest Mitrione is a tougher fight than Fedor.
In conclusion? Bader really hasn’t fought a top level Heavyweight yet, and while Fedor’s skills have clearly waned over the years, I’d still argue he’s one of the more dangerous big men out there, especially outside of the UFC umbrella. For a natural 205lber like Bader, that could spell trouble.
