Bader "Getting Better Every Day"

"I’m not going to fight him scared. He’s fought some really tough guys but every fighter is different." Facing the toughest match in his perfect MMA career, Ryan Bader (13-0) is approaching UFC 126 as just another day at the office when he goes up against one of the most exciting fighters in the sport today, Jon “Bones” Jones (11-1).

“I look at it one fight at a time,” says Bader. “My goal is to be the champion, and if you look at what it takes to achieve that in the 205 division, it could be pretty daunting. But if you take it one fight at a time and just train for the fighter in front of you and just go out like it’s any other fight, you’ll get there.”

Training for Jones has been a challenge. After all, how many guys out there have an 84 inch reach and the technique that Jones brings to the table, including vicious elbows that have resulted in some of the most impressive ground and pound in the division?

“I’m not scared of him,” says Bader. “That’s one thing, I’m not going to fight him scared. He’s fought some really tough guys but every fighter is different. I’m different than Matt Hamill, than (Brandon) Vera, than (Vladimir) Matyushenko; we all present our own problems. For me, I’m a tough wrestler. I have the mental capacity to make it a dogfight and take it in deep water. With my wrestling combined with my knockout power, I bring a lot to the table and even more than what you’ve seen in my last couple of fights.”

A two-time All American wrestler at Arizona State University, Bader thought he was through being an athlete after graduating college. The years of training and cutting weight took their toll, and Ryan went the 9 to 5 route, taking a job as a telecommunications salesman in a business-to-business company.

Six months later he discovered MMA.

“I felt like I hit a plateau with wrestling,” he said. “It was fun but it wasn’t there any more for me. I wasn’t getting much better. When I found MMA I learned something new every day and felt like every day I walked into the gym I was getting better.”

The progress Bader saw in the gym quickly translated to success in the cage, and after going 7-0 in smaller shows that included slamming an opponent in a cement floor ring in Mexico for a knockout victory, the Reno, Nevada native caught his second wind, and he eventually found himself on national television competing on The Ultimate Fighter, Season 8.

Since defeating Vinny Magalhaes in the finale and winning a UFC contract, Bader has gone 4-0 inside the Octagon, with key victories over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Jones’ teammate, Keith Jardine. A victory over Jones would catapult Bader into the top five of one of the most stacked divisions in all of MMA.

“This is a huge fight for me,” says Bader. “It has a lot of implications for my career, but it’s just another fight, he’s just another fighter. I put pressure on myself for every fight. I’m highly competitive. When I was fighting in smaller shows and wrestling matches, to the Ultimate Fighter and now huge fights like this, I train the same. I’m my biggest critic and I want to go out there and not only win, I want to be exciting.”

With unpredictable spinning elbows and impressive Greco Roman throws, Jon Jones is known for being exciting, but Bader says he’s got some tricks of his own that Jones needs to watch out for.

“Obviously I’m not going to give away my game plan, but if the opportunity presents itself in the second or third round, you’ll see some interesting stuff from me,” he says.  “We are pretty much opposite fighters. He’s got unorthodox technique, he’s very long, we have totally different bodies, and we couldn’t be any further apart. The only thing I would say is similar is the wrestling. I feel with my wrestling and my boxing, my ability to take him down and knock him out presents a lot of problems. I’m just working on mixing it up well. He’s obviously a great fighter too and he brings a lot to the table. I’m going to stay tight, use my wrestling and boxing and throw some kicks and knees in there.”

To help prepare for the imposing reach that Jones possesses, Bader worked with Kyle Kingsbury, who faces Ricardo Romero at UFC 126. At 6’4” tall and with a good 79 inch reach, Kingsbury presented a lot of the same scenarios that Bader will see against Jones.

“He’s a lot bigger than Jon Jones, but he’s lanky and tall with long arms so I got to work on getting inside, and he kept me honest, not walking straight in with punches because he’s got ten inches on me,” says Bader. “He was throwing some different stuff and it was nice to work with him just to feel that length and that size.”

Bader said he also did a lot of MMA sparring for this camp, with all of his opponents actively trying to emulate the unpredictable moves Jones is known for.

“We’ve had a fresh guy in there with me every minute and they were instructed to throw some of the techniques that Jon likes to throw at me so I’ve been getting used to seeing those types of things.”

For Bader, being undefeated in MMA and facing his toughest challenge to date doesn’t add any extra pressure to keep his record unblemished, because he’s got his eye on the big picture.

“He’s got all the hype and everything but if you put any one of those top ten guys in front of me it’s going to be a dog fight,” he says. “It’s a highly competitive division. When you start looking at those names and who I have to go through to reach my goal, you’ve got to take one fight at a time. It’s a hard division but that’s where I want to be.”

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UFC 119 Main Card: Bader Stays Unbeaten, Outpoints Nogueira

INDIANAPOLIS, September 25 – Unbeaten rising star Ryan Bader followed up his February win over Keith Jardine with another big victory in the UFC 119 co-main event at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday night, outpointing longtime light heavyweight contender Antonio Rogerio Nogueira over three rounds.

Bader’s unanimous nod read 30-27 across the board.

Nogueira vs. Bader
Both fighters looked to get their standup games off as the fight began, yet accuracy was an issue, as Bader (13-0) and Nogueira (19-4) fell short with hard shots. But with two minutes gone, Bader made his move, emphatically taking Nogueira to the mat, where he unleashed some hellacious blows that looked to be close to ending the bout. Nogueira weathered the storm, and with a minute left he got back to his feet, where he was able to knock Bader off balance with a right hand late in the stanza.

The pace slowed in the first half of round two, with Bader breaking the stalemate with a takedown just before the three minute mark. But that would be the end of the significant scoring for the round until Nogueira was able to tag the former Arizona State All-American wrestler with some punches in the final minute.

Bader responded well to an inadvertent eye poke early in round three, as he scored with some hard shots on Nogueira and then took him down. The Brazilian - bleeding from a small cut over his left eye - got to his feet quickly and started pressing the action with more urgency, but he wasn’t able to score consistently enough to hurt Bader, and this led to another takedown as soon as Nogueira got within range, sealing the deal for the unbeaten Arizonan.

Serra vs. Lytle
With friends like these, who needs enemies? In a punishing welterweight battle, good buddies Chris Lytle and Matt Serra erased the memory of their dismal 2006 bout, going toe-to-toe for three rounds, with Lytle emerging victorious by a three round unanimous decision.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Indianapolis’ Lytle, who improves to 40-17-4; Serra, who defeated Lytle via split decision in The Ultimate Fighter 4 finale, falls to 17-7.

Both fighters dug in and let loose with hooks as the bout began, Serra going downstairs and Lytle firing up top. After a few exchanges, Serra was bruised around the left eye, and Lytle was landing his punches with regularity. The New Yorker came back with under two minutes to go though, scoring with uppercuts and overhand rights as Lytle’s face began to show the scars of battle. By the end of the round it was Serra looking worse for wear as the bruise around his eye turned into a cut.

As Lytle continued to pepper Serra in the opening stages of the second right, he briefly put his foe on the deck with a right hand. Serra bounced back up and got back into the fray, but Lytle’s sharper punches continued to dominate the increasingly one-sided action. One thing Lytle couldn’t break was Serra’s heart, and Long Island’s ‘Terror’ kept throwing back haymakers, hoping to land one that would change the course of the fight. And even when it looked like Lytle was going to end things with under 30 seconds left, the last one throwing bombs was, you guessed it, Serra.

A hug between the two friendly rivals began the final round, and after Serra knocked Lytle off-balance, the donnybrook began in earnest once again. And even with fatigue an obvious issue after the pace of the first two rounds, both veterans continued to scrap, with each fighter getting in his series of shots, but Lytle just a little more accurate with his as the final bell tolled.

Sherk vs. Dunham
Evan Dunham may have suffered his first pro loss via split decision in an exciting 15 minute battle against former Sean Sherk, but his stock only rose in defeat, as he fought through a nasty cut over his right eye to almost finish the former UFC lightweight champion several times before the final bell rang.

The judges’ unpopular verdict read 29-28 twice and 28-29 for Sherk, who improves to 38-4-1 in his first bout since May of 2009. Dunham falls to 11-1.

“I knew I had the first round, the second round was close, the third round was close,” said Sherk. “I felt it could have gone either way.”

Most in attendance booed the decision, letting it be known which way they wanted it to go, but what wasn’t in question was the high-level display of mixed martial arts and heart both 155-pounders showed over three fast-paced rounds. Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that he thought Dunham won the decision and awarded both men $70,000 Fight of the Night bonuses.

Sherk reintroduced himself to UFC fans in the first with one of his trademark slams, but almost got caught in a guillotine choke in the process. After a few tense moments, Sherk pulled himself out and used some ground strikes until Dunham worked his way back to his feet. Sherk sent him back to the mat again, but when Dunham got up, he was pulling out all the stops for a submission, and he almost caught the former champion again. But once Sherk broke loose, he unleashed more furious ground strikes, with one opening a cut over Dunham’s right eye.

Hoping to not let the cut dictate the final result, Dunham came out fast for round two, again almost catching Sherk in a guillotine choke twice before ‘The Muscle Shark’ worked his way free. With under two minutes left, the two traded blows standing, and Dunham, blood staining his face, had success tagging his opponent with punches, kicks and knees, earning him the round.

Dunham opened the final frame by rocking Sherk with a shot to the head. He rushed in for the finished, but Sherk quickly recovered and bulled his foe into the fence. Dunham held his ground and got free and when he did, he was able to continue tagging Sherk from long range and in close. With under a minute left, Dunham staggered Sherk with a knee, but instead of fading, Sherk fired back, and the two went toe to toe until the bell, garnering a well-deserved standing ovation.

Guillard vs. Stephens
Lightweight Melvin Guillard won his third in a row and sixth of his last seven, patiently picking apart Jeremy Stephens en route to a three round split decision victory.

“I trained hard and I felt like I did enough to get the win tonight,” said Guillard. “I did more and I honestly don’t think he hit me in the face one time. I knew he wanted to stand and bang. I was a state champion in wrestling and a brown belt in judo so I could’ve taken it to the ground but I wanted to stick to my game plan.”

Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 for Guillard.

Guillard tried to finish things immediately with a haymaker to the head, but was greeted with a short shot to the jaw by Stephens that put him on the seat of his pants. Guillard bounced up immediately, and the two settled down – but not by much, as each punch and kick was designed for one purpose, ending the fight. As the round progressed though, Guillard found success with counters and quick kicks down the middle as Stephens advanced, and the amped up ‘Lil’ Heathen’ wasn’t able to score consistently on his quicker foe in response.

Stephens opened up the second with some leg kicks, hoping to slow Guillard down. Guillard responded by closing the gap and becoming the aggressor with his own punches and kicks, briefly knocking Stephens off balance. Undeterred, Stephens got right back in the pocket, but was forced to take a short break after an inadvertent low kick from Guillard.  Following the pause, Guillard started digging to the body with his punches. Stephens took them well, but moments later, it was Guillard taking a low kick and a break. Following another pause in the action, each fighter tried to make his case for a winning round, leading to some solid back and forth action.

Coming out of his corner with a sense of urgency, Stephens went right at Guillard to start the third, but ‘The Young Assassin’s counters and speed were still causing the Iowa native problems, and he was running out of time to figure them out. For his part, Guillard continued to pot shot his foe while maintaining the focus to stay tight defensively. And while Stephens was able to knock his foe off balance with an uppercut, he was not able to finish.

With the win, Guillard improves to 44-9-3 with 1 NC; Stephens falls to 18-6.

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