Name: Ryan “Darth” Bader
Promotion: UFC
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6 ft 2 in
Reach: 74 in
Record: 11-0
Specializes: Wrestling
Career summary: Ryan Bader developed most of his game from an excellent collegiate wrestling background. After his amateur wrestling career saw him notch 120 wins, become a three time all PAC 10 and a two time All American, Bader made the move to MMA. He began his career dominating lesser known opponents in small promotions; it wasn’t until he landed a spot on The Ultimate Fighter season eight that he saw his career take off. While on the show he breezed through the competition and earned his way into the finals, taking out Vinny Magalhaes in round one by knock out to become the season eight light heavyweight winner. He then made a successful post TUF debut defeating Carmelo Marrero by unanimous decision. Since then he has gone on to dominate Eric Schafer by unanimous decision, and most recently he earned a KO win over UFC veteran and TUF season two alumni Keith Jardine.
Strengths: Bader’s strengths are all spawned from his technique and pure power. He excels at close range takedowns, and on the mat he shows the ability to use proper weight distribution so that his opponents have trouble executing sweeps and reversals. Unlike most wrestlers, when Ryan gets the mat he has shown a propensity to use his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as an offensive weapon scoring three submission victories in his career – as opposed to just maintaining top control and working his ground and pound. Ryan has also adapted a good boxing game; he keeps his hands up and has great hip movement when throwing punches. In addition to his devastating power, he puts 100% of his power into every punch he throws and has the ability to knock an opponent out with his left or right hand at any point of the fight.
Weaknesses: Ryan has an issue with his striking defense, and when his opponent attacks he has a tendency to either swing with him, take it on the chin and absorb the blow, or begin to back pedal quickly to avoid being punched. He’s able to get away with these because he’s faced lower level fighters, but if he were to do any of those with a skilled striker it could end the fight there. Swinging with his opponent of course opens him up to being hit, taking it on the chin could result in a knockout, and back pedaling puts him off balance and could result in a takedown or being knocked off balance if his opponent can connect. The best course of action when an opponent attacks would be to fade so that he can avoid the contact, and then counter. Bader also needs to work on his cardio; in almost all his fights we’ve seen him begin the fight with a blaze of haymakers and takedowns, but then as the fight enters the second and third round he gets gassed and begins to rely on his superior wrestling to lay on the opponent and score points that way, instead of trying to finish the fights. If he continues with those habits against more capable fighters he stands a great chance of coming out on the wrong side of a haymaker.
Where he stands in the division: Ryan Bader has worked his way into becoming a rising title contender. It’s too early to say he should get a shot at the belt, but he’s beginning to open people’s eyes with his strength and ability to dominate opposing fighters. The toughest thing that Bader will have to work through is that he is fighting in maybe the most stacked division in MMA. I’d currently put him at about 9th in the UFC’s 205 pound division, mainly because he hasn’t fought anybody that great so far, but if he can come in and beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at 119 it could put him over the top and give him a legitimate a chance to fight one of the elite light heavyweights.
Read more at MMATorch
Wrestling Gear
