Almost three years ago to the day, Ryan Bader won the Bellator heavyweight championship with a surprising knockout of the great Fedor Emelianenko. And this Saturday Bader will defend that title against Emelianenko protégé Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273, with a rematch against Emelianenko likely awaiting him.
Until he signed with Bellator, Bader had been known almost exclusively as a light heavyweight. That was his division in the UFC, where he fought from 2008 to ’16. Bader (28–7, 1 NC) signed with Bellator in 2017, and has put together a phenomenal run with the company, becoming the first-ever simultaneous two-weight champion in Bellator history when he held both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.