Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader, nicknamed “Darth”, is a professional mixed martial arts fighter from the United States of America. He has fought for Bellator MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In December 2022, he was ranked by Bellator as their Number 6 pound-for-pound fighter.

Player Profile

Ryan DuWayne Bader was born on June 7, 1983, in Reno, Nevada in the United States. He currently resides in and fights out of Chandler, Arizona. He stands 188 cm tall and he has a reach as long as his height. His weight was last listed at 107 kg and he has fought in both the light heavyweight and the heavyweight divisions. He started wrestling when he was 7 years old and went on to have a successful amateur wrestling career.

He has an orthodox stance and fights in the style of wrestling. He has been a part of the Arizona Combat Sports and Power MMA Team.

Career

His first professional MMA fight was held in March 2007. It was against Dave Covello for the WFC – Desert Storm. That year, he had four more fights, all wins. In 2008, he had two professional fights. He also had his first fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 2008. It was an exhibition against Eliot Marshall. In December 2008, he fought in the UFC for the first time as a fighter, beating Vinny Magalhaes.

From 2009 to 2010 he was undefeated in the UFC. His first UFC loss was in February 2011 to Jon Jones. In July 2011, he lost to Tito Ortiz. Before 2011 ended, he won against Jason Brilz and in February 2012, he won against Quinton Jackson. Bader lost to Lyoto Machida in August 2012.

He continued fighting in the UFC through to November 2016 and had wins against Rashad Evans, Phil Davis, and Anthony Perosh to name a few.

In June 2017, he started fighting for Bellator MMA. From 2017 to 2019, he was undefeated. In September 2019, he had a no-contest result when he went up against Cheick Kongo. The two would have a rematch in 2022 and Bader would win.

His first Bellator loss came in August 2020, it was against Vadim Nemkov. His second Bellator loss came a little over a year after that and it was against Corey Anderson.

In February 2023, he went up against Fedor Emilianenko and won.

Career Record

Total - 39

• Wins - 31
• By knockout - 13
• By submission - 3
• By decision - 15

• Losses - 7
• By knockout - 5
• By submission - 2
• No contests - 1