When it mattered most, Ryan Bader displayed his championship mettle.
The Power MMA Team stalwart retained his heavyweight crown in the Bellator 273 main event, winning a hard-fought unanimous decision against interim title holder Valentin Moldavsky at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Saturday night. All three judges submitted 48-47 scorecards in favor of Bader, who was defending the belt for the first time since September 2019.
“I thought that fight was really close,” Bader said. “I thought I was doing more damage, rocking him. I knew it was close going to the bell.