Ryan Bader Says The UFC Light Heavyweight Division Isn’t Very Deep
Bader used to be a part of the UFC Light Heavyweight Division, a division the fighter now refers to as not very deep.
“I don’t feel the UFC’s light heavyweight division is very deep at all,” said Bader to MMA Junkie. “There’s a handful of guys they keep regurgitating to fight for the belt. There’s not too many to pull from there. Yeah, there’s always guys out there floating around, but I haven’t really thought about it too much. Bellator is doing a great job attracting these high-level guys, and that’s going to come with just a little bit of time. The word’s getting out we’re treated well over here. To be able to have this (Bellator heavyweight) grand prix, and we saw Darrion Caldwell fight in Japan, and so that’s attractive to us.”
The UFC Light Heavyweight Division is currently ruled by Jon Jones, who does hold a victory over Bader.
Although Bader plans on defending both belts if he wins the grand prix, but nothing is set in stone until Bader deals with Bellator officials.
“In the beginning, I said I wanted to defend both belts,” he said. “I’ve got to win both belts first. It’s got to make sense for me, and I’ve got to be incentivized to fight big old boys all the time. So we’ll deal with Bellator and go from there.”
Bellator 214 takes place on Saturday, January 26 from The Forum in Inglewood, California with Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the Paramount Network.
