MMA-URLS

Vinny Magalhaes is done fighting for M-1 Global, but he apparently still managed to use the company to make a hefty payday. The man still recognized by M-1 as light heavyweight champion put his title belt for sale on EBay. As of Tuesday morning, the page was gone, as Magalhaes announced over Twitter he had sold the gold for $100,000. On Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, Magalhaes, who is waiting out a period in which M-1 can match contract offers from other promotions after a bitter parting of the ways, explained his motivations for putting the belt up for sale. "Somehow I cannot fight until September or so, so I may as well just keep myself relevant by making news," he told MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani. Most fans remember Magalhaes for his stint on the "The Ultimate Fighter 6," where he lost to Ryan Bader in the season finale card. Since then, Magalhaes, a Rio de Janeiro native and ADCC gold medalist, has gone 7-1. That includes all five of his victories in M-1, where he hooked on in 2010, with all of his wins coming via stoppage. The marriage between fighter and promotion came went south when a public war of words ensued between Magalhaes and M-1 representative Evgeni Kogan. Magalhaes claimed Kogan was openly rooting for his opponent during Magalhaes' last M-1 fight. "I've never had a problem with M-1 as a company," he said. "They always paid me for the fights they were supposed to. My only problem is with Evgeni Kogan, which was a personal problem. He was at in my last fight, he decided to root against me, and since that day things haven't gone well." Magalhaes doesn't regret making his complaints with Kogan public. "I mean, when he rooted against me he didn't do it behind the scenes," Magalhaes said. "He made it public ... He said I was an unemployed gigolo fighter, what does that even mean, is he calling me a prostitute?" His contract expired at the end of December, but not without several hitches. "I have no obligations to fight for them." he said. "I had a contract to fight for them through January. They had a show in November, they didn't use me, they had a show in December, they didn't use me, and in January my contract expired." Because Magalhaes held the belt, though, the company had a 60-day window in which they could exclusively negotiate with Magalhaes, followed by a 120-period in which they could match any offer from another promotion. This means he won't be free to deal with other promoters without M-1's interference until July. But that's OK with him. "I've just decided not to talk to anyone for 120 days," he said. "So if there's no one to talk to, there's no offer, and if there's no offer, there's nothing [for M-1] to match. Sometime in July I can walk away and sign with whoever I want." In the interim, the Xtreme Couture fighter is keeping busy by helping train Chael Sonnen for his July rematch with Anderson Silva. Magalhaes confirmed to The MMA Hour that he has received death threats from fellow Brazilians for working with Sonnen, who has made no secret about his thoughts for the country. "It might just be some kid trying to be the tough guy on the Internet," said Magalhaes. "But nothing you think it actually might happen." It would seem inevitable for Magalhaes to return to the UFC. He welcomes the notion, and he says he would like another chance to fight Bader, who TKOd him in their bout. He makes it clear, though, that he's not specifically trying to troll Bader for a rematch. "I fought Ryan Bader, that's the only fight anyone remembers," he said. "Everyone says I got a glass jaw, I got dropped, but in reality, that's the only fight that I ever lost by TKO, that's the only fight ever. TUF finals, I've never been dropped or KOd oterh than that fight. Everyone says I have a glass jaw because of that fight, but that's the only one. I want to give payback to Bader because he's the one who forced me into that situation." "I won't walk into UFC and call out Bader. He's a top-six fighter right now. You don't want to walk into a promotion and start calling out people. But if I get two or three wins, maybe I can get a fight with him." Magalhaes, of course, know the perils of Ebay, so it remains to be seen whether the high bidder will actually follow through. "I don't know if these bidders are for real, if they're going to really spend $14,000 [the high bid at the time of the interview] on a belt that isn't worth not even a dollar, so it's up to them to pay that much. Maybe they're looking to pay that much because it's my belt not because its an M-1 belt."

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By the time Lyoto Machida faces Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 4 it will have been eight months since he last stepped foot inside the Octagon. Rather than sit on the sidelines for health-related or disciplinary reasons, the 33-year old (who celebrates a birthday this month) has simply been forced to wait patiently while the UFC sorts out the 205-pound division. While “The Dragon” may finally have an adversary to focus on, the extended break was apparently so bothersome he even considered taking a fight at middleweight to speed the process up. However, his management team convinced him to remain calm. “My objective is to fight at (light heavyweight) but there would be no problem fighting at middleweight. Anderson (Silva) is a friend of mine,” said Machida in an interview with O Globo. “(Middleweight) is his, but I would take a fight to keep me busy. The important thing is to keep fighting. I would fight there, but only with the objective of keeping me busy.” Now, with Bader in his sights, Machida is ready to prepare for the challenge at hand rather than the adversity created by a drop down in weight-class. In fact, the former champion is looking forward to facing Bader who has been on his radar for some time. “He is a great athlete. We already met on TUF when I made a visit (as a guest coach for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira). I have respect for him…I am very motivated and willing to fight against any one who is on his level…and he is among the tops,” explained Machida, pointing to Bader’s recent win over Quinton Jackson. Bader-Machida is set for August 4 in Los Angeles on a card also featuring Travis Browne vs. Ben Rothwell and Brian Stann vs. Hector Lombard. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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It's a great weekend for free televised MMA. UFC on FOX 3 goes down on Saturday in the shadow of New York City, just over the border into New Jersey, with Jim Miller and Nate Diaz headlining. Also back is Bellator, which returns from a brief one-week hiatus with a Friday night card featuring their lightweight champ Michael Chandler in a non-title bout. The UFC has also made a series of intriguing fight announcements over the last few days. With things in full swing, there's plenty to discuss in this week's edition of The MMA Roundtable. Among this week's items: what's the can't-miss fight of the weekend, which UFC champ is most likely to lose in the coming months, whether Ryan Bader can establish himself as a true title contender, and more. 1) Both UFC and Bellator host events this weekend. What is your one can't-miss fight?Chiappetta: With apologies to Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler, who became must-watch material after his 2011 Fight of the Year candidate with Eddie Alvarez, I'm going to go with the UFC on FOX 3's Rousimar Palhares vs. Alan Belcher fight.The weird thing is, I fully admit that's probably not the most compelling matchup of the weekend. Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks has more significance, Jim Miller vs. Nate Diaz guarantees more action, and the aforementioned Chandler is the only champ in action, but for me, Palhares has an unexplainable draw. For one thing, you never know what he's going to do next. Like the time he protested to the ref regarding Nate Marquardt's slipperiness in the middle of the match and got knocked out for it. Or the time he prematurely celebrated a win over Dan Miller and jumped atop the octagon fencing, only to be told to get back into the cage and fight. Throw in his dangerous submission game and he's equal parts fascinating and terrifying. On top of it all, Belcher seems confident enough to play Palhares' game, so the result of the two personalities mixed together should be riveting. Thomas: Belcher vs. Palhares is admittedly intriguing. And if Darren Uyenoyama hadn't pulled out of his bout with John Dodson, I'd probable have gone with that. For an amateur wrestling enthusiast like me, though, my pick is Hendricks vs. Koscheck.There is so much riding on this fight. Can Hendricks - one of the few collegiate wrestlers now in MMA who likely could've gone on to freestyle international success - finally fulfill the hype that was placed on his career? While the win over Fitch was impressive, was it just as much lightning in a bottle? Is Hendricks the real deal?As for Koscheck, he's obviously still formidable, but at 34 what does he have left? How has changing camps and dealing with the turmoil at AKA affected his preparation? Against a fellow national champion collegiate wrestler, who will be able to dominate the real estate in this fight?The last thing to consider is this: Koscheck is in a contender's fight, but does anyone really want to see him fight for a title again? Hendricks winning would be better for UFC's purposes. What does the UFC do with Koscheck if he wins? Did they really give him this fight to kill off a contender and not reward him with a title shot or number one contender's bout? Only time will tell, but that's why I'm tuning in.2) Last week, we learned Stipe Miocic vs. Shane Del Rosario will round out UFC 146. It isn't often UFC matches up two rising young contenders. Good idea or bad idea?Thomas: Good idea, although one always has to be careful with predicaments like this. In this particular case, I like it because there's a lot the winner can take away without the loser suffering an equal amount. This one isn't a zero sum game. The heavyweight division is thin. That's one of the most important considerations. Let's say Miocic wins and Del Rosario loses. Miocic moves on to potentially face someone like Matt Mitrione or Gabriel Gonzaga. Del Rosario would, by contrast, fight another entry-level UFC heavyweights and should he prove successful, move up the ladder. The point is this: two or three wins in the heavyweight division moves you up the roster quickly and one loss doesn't particularly derail you when you're a prospect. Whoever the winner is in this bout will prove they are ready for the next step. The other needs more seasoning. But no one is too far behind. It is slightly unsettling that Miocic and Del Rosario are closer to 30 than 20, but this is the sort of appropriate matching of talent that lets us know who is and isn't on a contender track without killing the loser's career.Chiappetta: I'm actually not a fan of this matchup, even though I advocated it back in February. The reason is timing. Miocic is taking the bout on short notice, and I think that's not a fair position to put a young, undefeated heavyweight into.On one hand, matchmaker Joe Silva's hand was forced by the shuffling of the UFC 146 lineup due to the Alistair Overeem situation. UFC seemed hellbent on keeping an all-heavyweight card, which really wasn't necessary, but I understand the rationale behind it. That said, we must remember that Miocic is still relatively green. I don't object to the Del Rosario matchup except for the fact that it comes with only five weeks preparation time, not a whole lot of time, especially considering the fact that Miocic works fulltime as a firefighter and paramedic while training. That's a lot to handle in a shortened camp.To be fair, Luke makes a good point about the fact that a loss won't necessarily ruin either man's career, but it doesn't make it the optimal setup either. I would have preferred this fight happening with full camps for both.3) Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida was just announced for UFC on FOX 4. Can Bader become a legit title threat after his previous hiccups?Chiappetta: This fight with Machida will tell us a lot about where Bader is going long-term. It's essentially make-or-break time for him in regards to his career trajectory. He turns 29 years old next month and has been in the game for five years. That doesn't make him old, but it also makes it difficult to refer to him as a prospect. At this point, he's seasoned enough to be winning big fights. To his credit, he has done that against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Quinton Jackson, but consistency is the hallmark of a champion. Bader has yet to truly prove that in several aspects of his game. In some ways, that makes Machida a perfect opponent for him. First of all, Machida doesn't easily give up takedowns (only about 20 percent against him are successful, according to FightMetric), so Bader won't be able to rely on his wrestling to save him. He's also a far more accurate striker than Bader, and better defensively. Throw in Machida's southpaw stance and rarely seen striking style, and Bader has plenty to wrap his head around in training camp. All of the stylistic and matchup challenges Machida presents makes a strong barometer for how Bader will do going forward against the light-heavyweight division's elite.While Bader is a very good fighter, my hunch is that he's likely to remain a step below the very top tier. If he develops true fluidity in his striking style and improves upon his striking-to-wrestling transitions, he can be an elite level talent, but even at 29, time is ticking.Thomas: I have no choice but to agree with Mike here. He's dead on. This fight is a big opportunity for Bader, but when we saw 'big opportunity' we only do so because the challenges here are so significant.Bader, for my comfortability, still is overly reliant on wrestling. What do I mean overly reliant? I don't mean that he uses it a lot. There's nothing wrong with that and indeed, he clearly has formidable wrestling skills. It's that he uses it in many cases of fatigue or desperation. Every wrestling-based fighter does that to some extent and some could be smarter to use it more. In Bader's case, though, I find that as much of a physical powerhouse he is, he doesn't use his athleticism or wrestling efficiently. It's full steam ahead even chasing down takedowns in a straight line until he gets what he wants. That's fine for a round against opposition ranked in the bottom of the top 10 or top 15. It's not going to work for very long against elite light heavyweights.Mike's articulation of Bader's lot in the division is correct. He's obviously very skilled, very athletic and hard to beat, but his offensive game is likely only going to find success amongst those not truly destined to contend for a title. It's just too inefficient. Let's see if Bader can prove us wrong. 4) Between May and August, five UFC titles are expected to be contested (Cruz-Faber, Aldo-Koch, Henderson-Edgar, Silva-Sonnen, dos Santos-Mir). If you had to put your money on one challenger to emerge with gold, which one and why?Thomas: I'd probably go with Frank Edgar, but clearly a credible case can be made with Chael Sonnen.Now, let me be clear: I do not outright think Edgar will win. I like Henderson to retain his title. That said, one of Edgar's most outstanding traits is his ability to improve between fights. That comes both from general skill building as well as correcting for what went wrong in previous outings. His three fights against Maynard are an illustration in the growth of a fighter who continually works to get better everywhere and specifically where he must in order to succeed.What surprised me most in his first fight with Henderson is just now much he was able to win in the wrestling portion of the game. If he tactically adjusts by incorporating fewer striking exchanges and can execute to the same degree he did in their first fight, he's got a great chance to reclaim his lightweight gold.Chiappetta: In order of probability, my guess would go: Edgar, Sonnen, Mir, Faber, Koch. Edgar has the best odds for the reasons Luke indicated. He's shown constant improvement between fights and proven the ability to make adjustments in-fight. The first bout between him and Henderson was relatively close, so he's clearly capable of making it a contest. But there's one other important factor to consider, and it's proving the critics wrong. Edgar has been hearing he's too small for years, even while he was the champion. When he finally lost the belt, it was time for the "I told you so" crowd to have their moment. I can't imagine Edgar can be any more motivated for a fight as he will be in the rematch.

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Former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will look to get back on the winning track in late summer when he faces hard-hitting wrestler Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 4. Machida started his career out with a 16-0 mark but has lost three of his last four fights while Bader has come out with his hand raised in two straight. Their August 4 bout has been confirmed by UFC officials. Despite his recent struggles, Machida’s 17-3 record is still impressive and includes wins over a number of stand-out scrappers such as Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, and Mauricio Rua. The 33-year old’s last outing came in December when he was beaten by Jon Jones after starting the fight out strong. Machida Looking at Middleweight Move in the Future Bader’s back-to-back wins came against Jason Brilz and most recently Quinton Jackson. He is 14-2 in his career with nine stoppages including six by way of TKO. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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A pair of bouts has been added to the UFC’s “UFC on Fox 4″ card. In a light heavyweight clash, former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will face the former Sun Devil standout Ryan Bader. The second bout pits two fighters coming off big UFC 145 victories as heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell will go head to head. The UFC announced both bouts earlier via UFC.com. Lyoto Machida will be looking  to right the course after falling to 1-3 in his last four, the most recent being to champion Jon Jones at UFC 140. The karate-based fighter will face off against former ASU wrestler Ryan Bader. Bader will be looking to extend his current two-fight win-streak to three coming off his dominant performance over another former champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. In a plus-sized match up, powerful heavyweights Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne will face off. Both are coming off respective wins over Brendan Schaub and Chad Griggs at UFC 145. Both fighters love to stand and trade and both are over 6’4″. While Browne will enjoy his usual height advantage, he will be giving up a 2″ reach advantage to the Duke Roufus product. UFC on Fox 4 takes place August 4 live from Los Angeles, Californina. For more on UFC on Fox 4 and all your MMA needs, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com. MMAFrenzy.com

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Former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has agreed to a big bout with Ryan Bader, Season 8 winner of "The Ultimate Fighter," at UFC on Fox 4 in August.

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Another major match-up has been added to UFC on FOX 4 in the form of Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader, a fight pitting two competitors with drastically different styles against each other in a scrap sending the loser to the back of a fairly long line of contenders. Machida is known for his karate-based stand-up and underrated BJJ while Bader is an accomplished wrestler with one-punch knockout power in his fists. Their bout was confirmed Monday night by UFC officials, making it the second announced outing for the August 4 card in as many days after the recent revealing of Brian Stann vs. Hector Lombard. Machida is coming off a submission loss to Jon Jones, his third defeat in four previous pairings including a razor-thin decision to Quinton Jackson and TKO to Mauricio Rua. However, the stumbles are the only three of Machida’s career with the Brazilian holding an overall record of 17-3 with past wins over the likes of Rua, Randy Couture, Thiago Silva, Tito Ortiz, and Rashad Evans. Like Machida, the 14-2 Bader’s only in-ring blemishes came against men who have held UFC gold (Jones/Ortiz). Since his shocking loss to Ortiz last July he has racked up back-to-back victories with his most recent involving an outpointing of Jackson at UFC 144. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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Lyoto Machida finally has his next matchup. In his first fight since a UFC light-heavyweight championship defeat at the hands of Jon Jones, the Brazilian karate master will face Ryan Bader. The bout will take place at UFC on FOX 4. It was first reported by Brazilian news outlet Esporte and confirmed by the UFC. Once thought to be an unsolvable opponent, Machida has lost three of his last four, though one of those, a split decision loss to Quinton Jackson, was controversial. His only win since the start of 2010 was a knockout of Randy Couture at April 2011's UFC 129. Machida most recently lost to Jones by second-round submission last December, and has been awaiting an opponent since. He is 17-3 overall. Bader, meanwhile, will hope to take into the fight the momentum of consecutive wins. His most recent, a unanimous decision victory over Jackson, marked his most significant victory to date. Prior to that, he knocked out Jason Brilz. With the two-fight win streak, he is now 14-2. UFC on FOX 4 is penciled in for August 4, emanating from Los Angeles' Staples Center.

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Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida attempt to get back in the title hunt when they square off at UFC on Fox 4 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

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Yesterday came word that Hector Lombard would be making his UFC debut against Brian Stann at UFC on Fox 4. Today, the card got an elite light heavyweight fight. Brazilian website iG says that former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will meet Ryan Bader on August 4th in Los Angeles. The bout will be on the main Fox card. Machida (17-3) hasn't competed since his loss to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones by second-round submission at UFC 140 in December. After starting his career 16-0, he is just 1-3 in his last four fights. Bader (14-2) is coming off the biggest win of his career over Quinton Jackson at UFC 144 in February. The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner is currently on a two-fight winning streak. The only other scheduled bouts for the card this far are the aforementioned Lombard vs. Stann bout and a lightweight bout between Terry Etim and Joe Lauzon.

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According to a report by iG, a Brazilian news outlet, Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader have signed on to face each other at UFC on FOX 4. The event is set for Los Angeles on August 4. Machida would be another former UFC light heavyweight champion for Bader to face, as “Darth” defeated Quinton “Rampage” [...]

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MMA Fighting's Luke Thomas conducted an interview with Imperial Athletics coach Mike Van Arsdale at the UFC 145 press conference earlier today, and he had some interesting stuff to say regarding Rashad Evans and his wrestling. The interview started off talking about Greg Jackson's camp, then Luke switched the topic to how the wrestling will play out in the Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans fight. Van Arsdale broke it down nicely: "The fight, all these fights, come down to distance, and who controls where the fight goes, so...controlling where the fight goes is called wrestling. So this is a wrestling-based sport. The striking is there, and when you're doing your striking that's how you're controlling the distance, so the transition between striking and wrestling will determine who wins the fight. Whoever can perform the transition best will win." When Luke asked Van Arsdale to compare Evans' wrestling to fellow UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader, Van Arsdale was extremely blunt with his answer: "Rashad is 100 times harder to wrestle than Ryan Bader in MMA." Why? "Because I just said it. Whoever controls the transition, and whoever is good at that will be good at MMA, and Bader's not very good at it. I'm not saying anything bad about him but he's working on some of the wrong things, and Rashad's faster than Ryan Bader. And Rashad, when you shoot on Rashad Evans, it feels like he weighs maybe 400 pounds. It's really hard to take him down. Ryan Bader looks really, really strong, but he's not as strong as he looks." Ouch. You can catch the rest of the interview below the jump, which includes an injury update from MVA, his thoughts on Charles "Krazy Horse Bennett training with them for a few days, and a quick thought on the upcoming Olympic trials. SBN coverage of UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans

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ATLANTA -- Mike Van Arsdale, former UFC light heavyweight and current coach for the Blackzilians, spoke to MMA Fighting about Jon Jones' contention Rashad Evans may be past his physical prime, why Evans is a much better wrestler than previous wrestling-based Jones opponent Ryan Bader, if it's true Greg Jackson was stretched too thin to help Evans before he left the camp and more.

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Congratulations to UFC Light Heavyweight and TUF 8 Champion Ryan Bader, who became a proud poppa over the weekend to Kanon Beau Bader. Props: Twitter

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submitted by Like_Wild_Potato [link] [6 comments]

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Following back to back losses, Ryan Bader had to dust himself off and pick up the pieces, but in doing so he became a more complete fighter that's now ready for his run at the top ten.

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Quinton Jackson sparked some controversy when he divulged his use of testosterone replacement therapy while training for his UFC 144 bout against Ryan Bader.

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On Tuesday afternoon Ryan Bader tweets that his knee is injured and requires surgery. Bader is coming off the biggest win of his career with a decisive victory of Quinton Jackson at UFC 144. As of yet, there's no timeline concerning when Bader will be able to return to competition.

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When Vinny Magalhaes reached the finals of "The Ultimate Fighter 8" against Ryan Bader, many felt he was ready to move onto greatness. Instead, Bader caught him with a right hand behind his ear and delivered several unanswered blows before the referee could stop the...

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Entering UFC 144 many viewed Ryan Bader as little more than a high-level wrestler with one-punch power. However, exiting the event it became clear Bader is a fighter through and through. Not only did the Ultimate Fighter winner accept a bout with Quinton Jackson despite “Rampage” coming in five pounds overweight but survived being brutally slammed on his head to hang on and pull out the decision win. Bader recently opened up on his mindset in the fight as well as where he feels the win over Jackson put him in the division. “When something like that happens, your training goes into effect,” said Bader of the slam in an interview with MMAFrenzy. “We spar pretty hard during practice, so I have been hit rather hard before. You basically just go into survival mode for a little bit. You take about 10-20 seconds where you just have to survive, and then everything starts to come back to you. Then it came back to me and I gathered my senses, and I was able to take him down. He then got up and I was able to slam him down. That’s why you’re in there; you get back up and get back after it.” Bader Admits to Being “Out of It” after Big Slam in Japan As far as Jackson’s issue making weight, later tied to his decision to use testosterone to work through an injury, Bader made it clear the thought of pulling out never entered his mind. “I would have accepted the fight even if he was 25 pounds overweight,” Bader explained candidly. “I went through a whole training camp, and I put a lot of work into this camp. I went over there to fight, and I was going to do that, regardless. Even if we knew all of that before the fight, we would have done the same thing.” Now that he holds a win over a former light heavyweight champion Bader is ready to take on the upper echelon of the division to prove his losing performances against Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz were simply stumbles rather than a pattern of stumbling in significant scraps. “I feel like I’m back in title contention. It’s a big win, winning over Jackson. Beating a guy who has held the title and just fought for the title is huge,” stated Bader before adding the victory over Jackson had made him far from complacent with his position, revealing, “I am always going to want more, and I am never satisfied.” Bader improved his record to 14-2 with his triumph over Jackson. He also holds previous victories over Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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Ryan Bader had to travel quite a long way to earn the biggest win of his career. Bader traveled for over 15 hours to Japan at UFC 144 to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson for 15 minutes, and in return, continue his comeback to light heavyweight title contention. Bader was not on the radar amongst possible opponents listed for Jackson in his return to Japan. Names like “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin were brought up, but Bader was the one that ended up getting the call. Once he did, Bader knew he had the biggest opportunity of his career. For Bader, who prior to UFC 126, was an up-and-coming prospect in the deep light heavyweight division, this was a way to really kick start his comeback. The downfall started when he suffered his first career loss to Jon Jones, and then was upset by Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 in July. He was able to halt the losing streak after defeating Jason Brilz at UFC 139. But there is a big step up in competition in regards to Brilz and Jackson, and Bader was well aware of that. In order to defeat Jackson, a tactical gameplan needed to be created in order to take advantage of the former champion’s shortcomings. While Bader will always be known as a strong wrestler, other styles came into play like boxing and grappling. After utilizing that throughout the match, Bader now looks back with satisfaction in carrying out that gameplan. “I didn’t want [Jackson] to get comfortable,” Bader said to MMAFrenzy.com. “I wanted to make it a fight he really didn’t want to be in, whether it be on the feet or on the ground, I really wanted to keep mixing things up. I made sure to test his cardio and test a little bit of everything. My coaches created a great gameplan, and I went out there and implemented it, so this is really a big win for all of us.” That gameplan took quite a hit, as did Bader, after Jackson brought back his premier move with his patented “Rampage” slam of Bader in the second round. While Bader admits it certainly had an effect on him, he made sure to return the favor. “I fell right on my head and neck, so I was out of it for a little bit,” explained Bader. “But when something like that happens, your training goes into effect. We spar pretty hard during practice, so I have been hit rather hard before. You basically just go into survival mode for a little bit. You take about 10-20 seconds where you just have to survive, and then everything starts to come back to you.” “Then it came back to me and I gathered my senses, and I was able to take him down. He then got up and I was able to slam him down. That’s why you’re in there; you get back up and get back after it.” Going into the fight, much attention was made of Jackson missing weight at the pre-fight weigh-ins. Having weighed 211 pounds, Jackson missed the weight limit by five pounds. Bader had no intentions of pulling out of the fight, and accepted the now-catchweight bout. But following the event, even more attention was made of Jackson’s weight, as he admitted to using testosterone replacement therapy to nurse a knee injury suffered during pre-fight training. Now aware of the situation and partially why Jackson missed weight, Bader still has no qualms about the decision. “I would have accepted the fight even if he was 25 pounds overweight,” declared Bader. “I went through a whole training camp, and I put a lot of work into this camp. I went over there to fight, and I was going to do that, regardless. Even if we knew all of that before the fight, we would have done the same thing.” Now coming off of the biggest win of his career over Jackson, Bader feels he has returned to contention, but still has a lot of work to put in to make it to where he wants to be. “I feel like I’m back in title contention,” said Bader. “It’s a big win, winning over Jackson. Beating a guy who has held the title and just fought for the title is huge. But I am always going to want more, and I am never satisfied.” For now, Bader is focused on life outside of the cage. He and his wife are expecting their first child, a boy, in April. Bader admits that it has been a whirlwind of emotions, with switching from training for a fight, to winning that fight, and then returning to home life and preparing for your firstborn. “In training camp, you’re almost a different person,” explained Bader. “You’re basically just thinking about your opponent at all times. Now that the fight is over, I don’t have to be as selfish and can think more about everyone else. This will only put me in a better state of mind and in a better place in life.” Aside from focusing on becoming a father within the next few weeks, Bader remains focused on becoming a true contender in the division. A win over Jackson feels like just the start for Bader, and he wants to continue on to the next chapter in his career. “I just hope to fight another top guy like Rampage. I want to go out there and keep beating those top guys, so I can get closer to my goal, which is ultimately winning a title. So, whatever puts me closer to achieving that, that is what I want to do.”

Posted in: fight, jackson, career, training, bader

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Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s long-awaited return to Japan was rather disappointing, with the former PRIDE superstar missing weight and getting battered by Ryan Bader. After a lackluster fight effort against Bader at UFC 144 — due to a reported knee injury — a rematch between Rampage and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua seems possible sometime in the future. Rampage and Shogun first fought at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005, when Shogun won via TKO (soccer kicks) against Rampage. Shogun thinks it’s only a matter of time before they fight again, having this to say: “It’s inevitable and UFC knows it. He won’t retire before fighting me and neither am I.” Rampage has lost three of his last five fights, though was able to beat Matt Hamill and Lyoto Machida before dropping fights to Jones and Bader. Rampage’s motivation has been called into question (again), though the former champion said an injury, not laziness, is to blame for his lack of cardio. Meanwhile, Shogun lost the UFC light heavyweight championship against Jon Jones at UFC 128 last year, then finished Forrest Griffin at UFC 134. At the end of 2011, however, Shogun lost to Dan Henderson at UFC 139, though picking up Fight of the Night honors.

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Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua recently spoke with Brazilian news source Tatame to give an update about his MMA career. The discussion covered his current management situation as Shogun recently split with long time manager Eduardo Alonso. The split caught many people off guard as Alonso had been with Shogun for much of his career and by all accounts the two had a great relationship. Though the reason for the split is still a bit of a mystery, an overwhelming factor was that Shogun would often have difficulty balancing training and dealing with media obligations. The most interesting part of the interview with Tatame was Shogun's choice for his next opponent. Rua named Ryan Bader, Dan Henderson, and Rich Franklin as possibilities. However, the name that Shogun discussed the most was Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Rua and Jackson first fought in the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix where Shogun finished Rampage midway through the first round with knees and soccer kicks to the face. What's next? They've talked about Phil Davis and Rampage Jackson... I guess it could be one of these guys. I don't discard Ryan Bader nor Rampage, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin... I guess there are many guys I could fight. Actually, soon I'll know more about it and I'll keep you posted. I'm sure I'll train focused on my opponent and he's going to be a hard one. So, talking about the old days.... Would you like to rematch Rampage? Absolutely. The fight against Rampage will happen eventually. It's inevitable and UFC knows it. He won't retire before fighting me and neither am I (laughs). Were you surprised by his performance against Ryan Bader? It's hard to tell because we don't know what happens to each and every fighter. I don't know if he got injured, if he was not feeling ok... It's hard to know, but Rampage is very professional and deserves to be respected. Shogun's final answer is very telling. We know at this point that Rampage entered the fight with Bader with a knee injury that prevented him from training at 100%. As a fighter he is likely more sympathetic towards Rampage's poor performance as there are always extenuating circumstances that stop a fighter from performing at the highest level. At this moment a rematch with Rampage makes sense for both fighters. It's apparent that Jackson's career is on a down swing while Shogun has battled knee injuries for the entirety of his UFC tenure. If the UFC was going to cash in on this obviously marketable fight, the time would be now. There is also a built in story since Rampage didn't enter their first fight with the most confidence after dropping two losses to Wanderlei Silva. Obviously nothing has been sign, but expect for the UFC to book a rematch between the two PRIDE veterans.

Posted in: ufc, rampage, jackson, shogun, bader

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"Bader fought great. Nice job. Quinton looks like he just showed up to get paid." -- Oh, he went there. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Dan Henderson took to his official Twitter account to express his displeasure with Quinton Jackson's performance against Ryan Bader this past weekend (Feb. 25, 2012) at UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan. "Rampage" admitted that he wasn't surprised that he lost to Bader because of a knee injury he sustained during training camp and aggravated again during the fight. The injury, which prevented Jackson to cut anymore weight and come in six pounds over the required limit, was kept under wraps until after the fight was over. Bader, for the most part, dominated the three round affair and cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Perhaps "Hendo" was expecting the same "Rampage" that went to war with him for five rounds back in 2007 at UFC 75. The two went toe-to-toe in a PRIDE vs. UFC match that would unify the 205-pound titles from each mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Jackson went on to best Henderson via unanimous decision, taking his PRIDE Middleweight title in the process. Is the spark the could possibly set up a rematch between the two former Light Heavyweight champions down the line? Hendo is still looking for a fight ... he might have just picked (another) one.

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Quinton Jackson Following his first fight in Japan in exactly six years, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was quick to declare that Saturday was not the last time you will see him in the Octagon. In his return to Japan, Jackson was unable to get past Ryan Bader, who overpowered the former UFC champion. Jackson, 33, came into the fight with an undisclosed injury. After the fight, he announced it was a knee injury he suffered during training camp that caused him to come into the fight overweight. Weighing in at 211 pounds, Jackson missed weight for the first time in his illustrious career. The extra weight and lack of conditioning was evident, as Jackson was unable to overcome the strength of Bader. Jackson stated he re-injured the knee during the fight, from a slam by Bader in the second round. The third round went much like the first two, and Bader was awarded the victory by unanimous decision. But even with the loss, his second in a row, Jackson declared he is not going to retire. He took to his Twitter account, stating “”Just so you guys know I’m not going to retire, I’m gonna heal up then get back on top, thanks to all my fans that are still with me…I fight for you.” It is not known how long Jackson will be out of action due to the injury and loss, or even how long Jackson will remain in mixed martial arts. Following his loss to Jon Jones in September, Jackson expressed interest in switching to boxing once his current contract with the UFC expires.

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As a young fighter in PRIDE, former light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson developed a reputation for dishing out damage with an arsenal of brutal slams, none more infamous than his power-bomb finish of Ricardo Arona. However, when it came to his bout against Ryan Bader this past weekend at UFC 144, few believed Jackson could channel the “Rampage” of old and wow the Japanese fans with another highlight reel slam given Bader’s accomplishments as an amateur wrestler. Midway through the second round Jackson proved his critics wrong, scooping Bader up against the fence and slamming him down face-first to the mat. While Bader never lost consciousness the impact clearly injured him, something he openly admitted to in an interview with the UFC shortly after making his way backstage. “I knew he was waiting for something because he was a little too relaxed right there with his head. He was just waiting for me to knee the head and he caught my leg,” explained Bader of the sequence resulting in Jackson’s biggest offense of the entire fight. “He’s a strong dude so he picked me up and slammed me right on my head, and I was out of it, honestly, for a little bit. But I recovered and that’s what it’s about, just staying in there and battling, and that’s what happened.” While the 14-2 Bader has notched some notable victories since showing up in the UFC three years ago the 28-year old has no illusions when it comes to which of the lot is the most significant in his career. “This is my favorite win of all time,” said Bader of his performance. “Coming in and winning the Ultimate Fighter, it’s not really in the UFC. You start over right when you get in the UFC. That’s what I learned, real quick. I had a couple of losses last year. Starting this year off right so getting a win over “Rampage”…he just fought for the title, Top 5 in the division…so I couldn’t have asked for more.” No word has surfaced on what might be next for Bader though, if he has his way, it will involve a little time off rather than an immediate match-up. Watch the full interview below: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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In the co-main event of UFC 144, Ultimate Fighter 9 winner Ryan Bader soundly defeated former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson by unanimous decision. All three judges had it 30-27 for Bader. Rampage missed weight before the bout due to an injury and it was quite obvious in the cage, where he was slow and a bit timid. Bader was more active with his striking over the course of the fight, and once Rampage gassed out he was able to take him to the ground and keep him there for large stretches. Other than one highlight slam in the second round, Rampage never really got anything going. There had been plenty of talk about Jackson retiring after the bout, but it didn't happen and he says he's committed to continuing his career. What was the high spot of this fight? Rampage's slam on Bader. Bader landed awkwardly on his right arm and it's amazing that he didn't suffer any major damage from it. Both entrances were awesome too, with Bader using a remixed Star Wars theme and Rampage using the Pride theme. Where do these guys go from here? Bader has now won two bouts in a row after consecutive losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. This is, by far, the biggest win of his career and will allow him to re-enter the top 10. A bout against the winner of the Alexander Gustafsson vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira match up UFC on Fuel would be an excellent next fight for him. Rampage says he wants to press forward with his career, so you know he's going to continue to get showcased fights. He has lost two in a row and could get a lower-level opponent next, but that's unlikely. The best options for him (if his knee heals quickly) are rematches against Dan Henderson or Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Shogun is the more likely of the two. Watch it now, later or never? Later. Rampage just didn't look like himself other than the slam, and Bader was more workmanlike than exciting. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson More Bloody Elbow coverage of UFC 144 in the full entry. UFC 144 Results: Winners, Losers, And Other Thoughts - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Frankie Edgar Doesn't 'Need' To Drop To Featherweight - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Results: Rampage Jackson Goes Out Like A Lamb In Loss To Ryan Bader - Nate Wilcox UFC 144 Results: Ben Henderson And Anthony Pettis Ready For Rematch - Nate Wilcox UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Results: Dana White Says Anthony Pettis Will 'Likely' Get Next UFC Lightweight Title Shot - Bloody Elbow UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video UFC Japan Video: Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords - Bloody Elbow Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - Episode 139: UFC 144 Results Review UFC 144 Results: Ryan Bader Dominates Rampage Jackson To Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Mark Hunt Knocks Out Cheick Kongo In The First Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Jake Shields Wins Hard Fought Decision Over Yoshihiro Akiyama - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Upsets Yushin Okami In The Third Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video UFC 144 Results: Hatsu Hioki Defeats Bart Palaszewski By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Anthony Pettis Knocks Out Joe Lauzon In The First Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Takanori Gomi Stops Eiji Mitsuoka In The Second - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Vaughan Lee Submits Kid Yamamoto With An Armbar - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Riki Fukuda Dominates Steve Cantwell To Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Chris Cariaso Defeats Takeya Mizugaki By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Issei Tamura Knocks Out Tiequan Zhang - Matthew Roth

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 -Benson Henderson joins Carlos Condit, Frank Shamrock, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz as the only men to hold UFC and WEC championships.-Henderson has gone the distance in his last five fights-Four of the eight current UFC champions were former WEC fighters-Henderson has now won four in a row and 14 out of his last 15 fights-Henderson is 4-1 all time in UFC and WEC title fights-The fight and win for Henderson was his first versus a former UFC champion-Frankie Edgar's 687 day lightweight title reign is the second longest in UFC history, behind only B.J Penn -The loss snapped a seven fight unbeaten streak for Edgar-Both of Edgar's career losses have come via decision-All five of Edgar's UFC title fights have gone past the third round into the championship rounds-FightMetric Effectiveness score had the fight 388-285 in favor of Henderson. In the ten point must system FightMetric scored the fight 49-46 for Henderson-Per CompuStrike Edgar had a 7-2 edge in takedowns -After a two fight losing streak Ryan Bader has now won back to back fights-The win over Jackson was Bader's first over a UFC champion after previously losing to Tito Ortiz and Jon Jones-Bader moves to 7-2 in his UFC career-With the loss to Bader, Jackson is now 0-3 versus Ultimate Fighter reality show winners-Despite 10 career losses Jackson's defeat to Jon Jones and Bader was the first time he lost back to back fights-Three of Jackson's four UFC losses have come via decision-Per CompuStrike Bader had a 107-32 edge in total strikes over Jackson -The FightMetric Effectiveness score gave Bader the nod 202-80 -Betting favorites went 7-5 at UFC 144. Tim Boetsch's third round comeback versus Yushin Okami was the biggest paying underdog at +300

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The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner, Ryan Bader, defeated Quinton Jackson in the co-main event of UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan, after dominating his opponent in every aspect of Mixed Martial Arts. Bader's footwork and overall movement inside the Octagon prevented from Rampage Jackson to execute his gameplan. "Darth" scored points and did damage with short striking combinations, and leg kicks that forced Jackson look for a one-punch knockout. Jackson got Bader hurt with a vicious body slam, but was unable to get the

Posted in: jackson, rampage jackson, quinton jackson, bader, gameplan darth

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One of the most anticipated showdowns of UFC 144 last night (Feb. 25, 2012) was the light heavyweight battle between Ryan Bader and Quinton Jackson in Saitama, Japan. "Rampage" Jackson was trying to channel his old school Pride self, coming out to the classic Pride music, howling and wearing his old school chain link necklace. But, other than a brief flash with a slam, that was about as much old school "Rampage" that the Japanese fans were witness to. So what helped Bader score the upset victory? And where do both men go from here? Follow me after the jump for our Ryan Bader vs. Quinton Jackson UFC 144 post-fight review and analysis: Early on, it was all about speed, and Ryan Bader had it all. He perplexed Jackson by darting in and out, hitting him with his stand-up and keeping away from Jackson's power. "Rampage" tried to keep up, but he just looked a step slow in the striking department. Perhaps it was the secret injury that forced the former champion to come in six pounds heavy at the weigh-ins, but Jackson looked like a completely different fighter last night. After dropping the first round primarily because of the stand-up, Jackson showed a brief flash of his former self when he caught a knee, lifted Bader over his head and then proceeded to slam The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 winner directly on his head and right arm. This stunned Bader and Jackson tried to capitalize, but he couldn't swarm him fast enough and "Darth" was able to recover. Bader didn't just recuperate, he turned the tide about a minute later, taking Jackson down and then slamming "Rampage" to the canvas in a bit of irony. To put an exclamation point on the upset, Bader again took Jackson down and was active enough with punches to keep the fight on the canvas until the final horn. He got up to celebrate while a beaten and clearly dejected Jackson remained flat on the canvas, pondering what he had done wrong. The judges were easily able to side with Bader, awarding him a unanimous decision with a 30-27 sweep of the scorecards. For Jackson, this should have been a wake-up call. No matter how badly you want to fight in Japan, even turning down an opportunity to fight in front a significantly larger audience for the UFC on Fox show, you can't go into a fight with an injury like that. Not only did it cost him 20 percent of his fight purse (which likely was a tidy sum), it cost him a victory. He was hobbled, slow and completely ineffective against Bader. He needs to rest, let those injuries heal and try to come back 100 percent if he wants to ever make a big impact in the division again. I'd like to see Jackson heal up his injuries and then fight Mauricio Rua in a classic rematch. At this point, he should be more about putting on exciting fights than winning the title again. Other interesting bouts would be Vladimir Matyushenko and perhaps Rich Franklin, who he called out after his weigh-in on Friday night. For Bader, this was the type of performance he needed to put on to completely get back on track after such a disheartening two fight losing streak in 2011. He stepped up against a more experienced foe who was a former champion and he delivered exactly what he needed to do. He looked younger, faster and maybe even stronger than Jackson last night en route to earning a rather dominant decision victory. He beat Jackson in just about all the areas of the fight with superior speed and wrestling. I'd like to see Bader fight Stephan Bonnar next, perhaps the winner of Thiago Silva vs. Igor Pokrajac or even Alexander Gustafsson if he can get past Antonio Rogerio Nogueira later this year. It seems that "Darth" Bader is back and ready to get back in the mix once more. So what did you think, Maniacs? How much of a factor was Jackson's injury in his performance last night? Were you impressed with what Bader was able to accomplish or is his victory tainted for you? Sound off! For complete UFC 144 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.

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"This is my favorite win of all time. Coming in winning the Ultimate Fighter, it's really not in the UFC, you start over right when you get into the UFC. That is what I learned real quick. You know I had a couple of losses last year and I'm starting this year off right. Getting a win over Rampage, he's up there, he just fought for the title, he's top five in the division so I couldn't ask for more. He got that good slam, you know , I knew he was waiting for something because he was a little to relaxed right there with his hands and he was just waiting for me to knee the head and he caught me, he's a strong dude, so he picked me up and slammed me right on my head and I was out of it honestly for a little bit. But, I just recovered and that's what it's about, just staying in there and battling and that's what happened." -- Ryan Bader tells UFC.com that he was "out of it" for a little while after Quinton Jackson slammed him in the second round of their co-main event bout last night (Feb. 25, 2012) at UFC 144 from Saitama, Japan. "Rampage," who was known for power bombing opponents such as Kazushi Sakuraba and Ricardo Arona while fighting in Japan with Pride FC, had yet to show the stateside fans his incredible strength with his powerful slams that he was accustomed to doing in the Far East. Perhaps all it took a trip to "The Land of The Rising Sun" to inspire Jackson to do what he does best, and that's drop them on their heads. Bader, however, rattled after landing head first and awkwardly on his arm, shook of the split-second cobwebs to regain his composure and control the pace from that moment forward en route to a unanimous decision win. With "Darth" upsetting Jackson's large fan base in attendance, he propelled himself closer to the top of the mountain in the 205-pound division and handed Jackson his second consecutive loss. Impressed with Bader's composure after the slam from "Rampage" and his overall performance for that matter? It certainly looked like it could have been much worse -- the crunching slow motion replays were insane.

Posted in: ufc, rampage, jackson, head, bader

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made its momentous return to Japan for the first time since 2005 as UFC 144 took center stage at the Saitama Super Arena last night (Feb. 25, 2012). The gigantic card featured 12 big-time fights, including a title bout between the two best 155-pound fighters in the world, Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and number one contender Ben Henderson. The result? A brand new and very deserving champion of the 155-pound roost. The co-main event was somewhat marred by the fact that Quinton Jackson came in six pounds overweight for bout against Ryan Bader, complaining of an injury he suffered during training camp. Nonetheless, "Rampage" had moments where he looked like his former self, but overall, it appears as though his best days are now behind him. Let's take a look at what may be next for the UFC 144 big winners, Ben Henderson and Ryan Bader: Everyone knew that the fight between Edgar and Henderson would end up being an all-out war that we'd be talking about for a long time to come. The bout delivered on every bit of the promise, as the first two rounds saw both competitors come out and fight at a frantic pace that looked like it would be hard to maintain. At first, Edgar had an "Answer" for all of "Bendo's" kicks, catching them all in the air and responding with strikes each time. But, the tide took a huge a turn for Henderson when a big upkick caught Edgar square on the bridge of the nose, causing it to gush blood immediately. Even still, Edgar never quit. He fought valiantly and kept coming, but ultimately, Henderson was just too much for him in every aspect of the fight. So what's next? Let's cut to the chase. Anthony Pettis looked super impressive in his UFC 144 win over Joe Lauzon. He's also the last man to beat Henderson. If you're telling me there's a fight that makes more sense, I want to hear what it is and then I want some of what you are smoking. Coming into his fight with "Rampage," Bader was not only the odds underdog, but also played the role of the "heel" to the thousands of Japanese fans who were cheering for Jackson with all their might. Everyone knows that "Rampage" has the ability to put a man to sleep in one fell swoop. Bader is no dummy, and so he made a concerted effort to steer clear of any such a shortcoming. For three rounds, Bader used takedowns, effective striking and a sound strategy to gain a victory over an opponent with a huge name and following. He's back on the road to redemption, but still should be several fights away from real contention. You don't go from being finished brutally in two straight fights to being "in the mix" without really working your way back up the ladder. What might the future hold for a man who was undefeated before Jon Jones decimated him at UFC 126 on Feb. 5, 2011 in "Sin City?" I'd love to see him fight Phil Davis. "Mr. Wonderful" is not as bad as he looked against Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28, 2012 in "Chi-town." They're both top contenders who are still learning the game and have a lot of potential. They're also both very good wrestlers with steadily improving stand up. It makes sense to me ... how about you?

Posted in: ufc, fight, henderson, edgar, bader

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SAITAMA, Japan -- Ryan Bader talked to MMA Fighting about his win at UFC 144 over Rampage Jackson. Bader talks about his performance, being slammed by Rampage, his experience in Japan and much more.

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Ryan Bader talked to the press after his win over Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson at the UFC 144 post-fight press conference.

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UFC 144 - Ryan Bader vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

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Quinton Jackson badly wanted to fight in Japan again before retiring and he got the chance to do so tonight (Sat., Feb. 25, 2012) at the famed Saitama Super Arena against Ryan Bader at the UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson" pay-per-view event. We even learned that "Rampage" had passed up fighting on the second UFC on Fox card to appear at this show to once again put on a show for the Japanese crowd that loves him so. And they wildly cheered for him as he howled his way to the cage to the Pride theme song, creating a hair raising environment one couldn't help but get emotionally caught up in. It's just too bad Bader had to come in and spoil the homecoming. "Darth" used a strong wrestling game to go along with improved striking to win a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27 across the board. A tired Jackson simply couldn't avoid getting taken down and never quite got his punches off the way he wanted to. Hey, at least we got a sweet slam, right? I'm not sure I've ever seen Jackson come out so fast and pressing forward so hard to start a fight. He even went Nick Diaz for a minute and stepped back to raise his hands to ask for Bader to engage him. When he did, though, it was to clinch against the cage. Smart strategy, considering the weight issues and injury claims from his training camp that surely sapped his ability to push his cardio. Bader then proceeded to find a home for the one punch he has that does a great deal of damage (the overhand right) while Jackson had little to offer as an answer to it. He ended the round with some solid punch combinations but none of them landed. Score one for "Darth." The second round saw a lot of the same action ... until Jackson went all "Slampage" and put Bader down on his skull with a sweet slam reminiscent of the old Pride days. The fans in Japan exploded with delight. Unfortunately for them, it didn't last, as Bader got back to his feet, survived the ensuing onslaught of punches and took Jackson down, where he kept him until the round ended. The final frame began with Jackson ready to head hunt in the hopes that he could score the knockout he surely wanted to give his fans in Japan. Sadly, depending on perspective, Bader used his wrestling to take "Rampage" back to the floor and worked top control. And that was all there was to it. Remember, too, to check out our ongoing live coverage of the UFC 144 main card action by clicking here.

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Ryan Bader defeats Quinton Jackson by Unanimous Decision. The score cards were 30-27, 30-27, 30-27. Bader looked antsy to open the fight. Rampage taunted Bader in response. Rampage ducked down for a takedown and Bader defended with a front headlock. Bader turned Rampage and landed knees to the legs. Rampage pushed off to create distance. Bader landed an overhand right. Slow right hand from Rampage the MMA equivalent of an airball. Bader landed another overhand right and then clinched for a takedown. Rampage looked tentative walking Bader down. Bader dove acros for a takedown and drove Rampage against the fence. Rampage dropped for a takedown and again Bader with the headlock. The round ended with Rampage head hunting. Leg kick and right hand form Bader. Rampage wiffed on two wild hooks. Rampage clinched Bader against the fence and then hoisted the ASU alum and slammed him on his head. Bader was able to regain his feet but he was on wobbly legs. Bader regained his wits and got a takedown. Punches to the body from Bader as the crowd booed. Elbows from Bader did damage but Rampage regained his feet. Bader landed knees to the hamstrings and then dragged the fight back to the mat. The round ended with Ryan Bader working from Rampage's guard. Bader tried to beat Rampage to the punch but was poked in the eye. The referee didn't see the penalty so Bader pushed forward to clinch against the fence. They broke and Bader attempted to snatch a single leg but Rampage stepped away. Bader with another attempt and he got the fight to the ground landing in side control. Ramage regained his guard and Bader worked punches to the body. Rampage tried to push Bader off but Ryan dove back keeping the fight on the ground. Rampage wall walked to his feet but Bader got the fight to the ground and passed to half guard. Bader did an amazing job keeping heavy on top and working for a kimura to finish the fight. The fight ended with Bader working a reverse guillotine. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

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Rampage Jackson came in five pounds overweight and looked doughy at Friday's weigh-ins, and Saturday night he looked even worse: Ryan Bader easily beat Jackson by unanimous decision at UFC 144. It was the worst Rampage has looked in a long, long time: He didn't get blown out the way he did in his last fight, a loss to Jon Jones, but at least in that fight he appeared to be in shape and ready to go. This time he just didn't have anything in him, and Bader dominated him. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Bader. Bader looked good in the first round, getting the better of the stand-up exchanges and controlling Jackson in the clinch. Jackson looked tentative and tired, and Bader looked confident. At the start of the second Bader looked good as well, although Jackson turned things around with a big slam, picking Bader up and dropping him head-first on the ground. But Bader recovered nicely, took Jackson down and got on top of him on the ground. From there Bader dominated the rest of the round, and although Jackson's slam was the most dramatic thing that happened in the second round, it was another round for Bader. In the third round Bader executed a beautiful takedown into side control and dominated the fight on the ground, grinding out an easy decision.

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It may not have pleased the Japanese audience, but light heavyweight Ryan Bader got the job done against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Avoiding the PRIDE veteran's power, Bader outworked Jackson on the feet and outwrestled him on the mat for a unanimous-decision victory. The bout served as the co-main event of UFC 144, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It aired live on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

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At UFC 144 the man known simply as Rampage, Quinton Jackson (32-9; 7-3 UFC) meets Ryan Bader (13-2; 6-2 UFC). This Light Heavyweight bout is the semi-main event on the evening. Rampage is currently ranked as the #5 Light Heavyweight in the world according to the USA TODAY / MMA Nation Consensus MMA Rankings; Bader is #16. The UFC 144 PPV card begins this Saturday, February 25 at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, and will run for 4 hours on PPV. On paper this looks like a pretty one-sided affair. Rampage may have slowed a bit in recent years, but he's still one of the most dangerous men in the division, while Bader is just 1 fight removed from a loss to Tito Ortiz. Much of the interest in this fight stems from Rampage returning to Japan where he first made his name as part of Pride. Jackson seems excited about fighting in front of Japanese fans once again. Will this mean the return of "Slampage" and his devastating powerbombs and throws? Any old school Pride fan must certainly be hoping so. How do these two stack up? Rampage: 33 years old | 6'1" | 73" reachBader: 28 years old | 6'2" | 74" reach What have these two done recently? Rampage: L - Jon Jones (Sub) | W - Matt Hamill (UD) | W - Lyoto Machida (SD)Bader: W - Jason Brilz (KO) | L - Tito Ortiz (Sub) | L - Jon Jones (Sub) How did these two get here? Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion who has seen a lot of ups and downs in his career recently. After making a big UFC debut back in 2007, he won 3 straight, then lost the belt to Forrest Griffin and subsequently went on a bizarre and dangerous driving, uh, rampage. He came back, had a pair of fights, then announced his retirement from MMA to pursue acting. That didn't pan out, and he's 2-2 since his return. As I said above, he remains a threat to everyone in the division, but there often just feels like a spark missing from Rampage these days. I'm interested to see if the Japanese fan reignite it. Ryan Bader started his UFC career with a 5 fight win streak that brought his overall record to 12-0. From winning The Ultimate Fighter to defeating Rogerio Nogueira, Bader was clearly a force. A loss to Jon Jones was a minor setback, though clearly there's no shame in losing to Jones. But his UFC 132 submission loss to Tito Ortiz was a real eye-opener. He's defeated Jason Brilz since, but it is going to take a lot for fans to forget the image of Bader being choked out. A win over Rampage would be a huge step in that process. Why should you care? There are three ways I see this fight going: 1) Rampage taps into his old violence and steamrolls Bader, 2) Bader pulls off a huge upset and knocks one of the old guard off his perch, 3) Rampage has a tentative victory a la Matt Hamill. Two of those three options would be exciting, so odds are in your favor for a good fight. More UFC 144 preview coverage from Bloody Elbow after the jump. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson UFC 144 Judo Chop: The Striking Defense of Mark Hunt - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Rampage Jackson Misses Weight By Five Pounds, Loses 20% Of Purse While Fight Goes On - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Weigh-In Video And Coverage - Tim Burke UFC 144: Anthony Pettis Vs. Joe Lauzon Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: The Bloody Elbow Judo Chops Of Frankie Edgar Vs. Ben Henderson - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Staff Predictions - Tim Burke UFC 144: Jake Shields Wants UFC To Make Sure Yoshihiro Akiyama Doesn't Cheat - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Yushin Okami Vs. Tim Boetsch Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Video: Dana White Video Blog Episode 2 - Kid Nate UFC 144: Rampage Jackson On The Streets Of Tokyo - Kid Nate UFC 144: Dana White Wants You To Know The UFC Didn't Kill PRIDE - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: The Epic Drama Of Yoshihiro Akiyama - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Is Frankie Edgar Being Underrated Against Ben Henderson? - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Hatsu Hioki Vs. Bart Palaszewski Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Roundtable: Can The UFC Succeed In Japan? - Tim Burke UFC 144 Predictions: Pros Slightly Favor Frankie Edgar To Beat Ben Henderson - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Takanori Gomi Vs. Eiji Mitsuoka Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Judo Chop: Benson Henderson And The Miracle of Survival Part 2 of 2 - Ben Thapa UFC 144 Video: Under PRIDE Rules, Rampage Jackson Dominates Fight Against Ryan Bader - Anton Tabuena UFC 144 Video: Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson Fight Simulation And Prediction - Anton Tabuena UFC 144 Pre-Fight Press Conference Video - Tim Burke UFC 144: Yoshihiro Akiyama Leads The UFC Back To Japan - Kid Nate UFC 144: Should The Winner Of Joe Lauzon Vs. Anthony Pettis Get The Next Title Shot? - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto Vs. Vaughan Lee Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: Riki Fukuda Vs. Steve Cantwell Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Judo Chop: Benson Henderson And The Miracle Of Survival Part 1 of 2 - Ben Thapa UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Countdown Show Full Video - Anton Tabuena UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Betting Lines - Tim Burke UFC 144: Rampage Jackson Is A Death Sentence For Ryan Bader According To Michael Bisping - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Manga-Style Promo Video - Kid Nate UFC 144: Takeya Mizugaki Vs. Chris Cariaso Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: Tiequan Zhang Vs. Issei Tamura Dissection - Dallas Winston

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Ryan Bader responds to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson coming in at 211 pounds for their UFC 144 co-main event in Japan. Bader will get 20 percent of Jackson's purse.

Posted in: jackson, rampage jackson, ryan bader, bader, japan bader

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A compelling UFC 144 co-main event will take place later tonight (Feb. 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, between two heavy-handed 205-pound fighters with relatively similar styles. Quinton Jackson, for all his column-friendly quotables and self-parody, is an outstanding fighter with many tools. Don’t be fooled by his four-round domination at the hands of Jon Jones, as I’m not sure if anyone else is going to extend "Bones" that far in the next couple years ... at least not until the champ moves to Heavyweight. Jackson’s blend of good takedown defense and potent hands, along with a big-time chin and tons of experience, make him a real live wire for an up-and-comer like Ryan Bader. "Darth" is used to being the better takedown guy in a match up, and he’s not going to be that guy here. At best, it’s a scratch for him in terms of wrestling. Bader’s stand up is decent, however, and his thudding right hand is a great weapon to soften up Jackson for takedown attempts. Follow me after the jump for a complete breakdown of the UFC 144 fight between Quinton Jackson vs Ryan Bader: The Breakdown What we’re likely to see is a great, ex-champ still likely in his prime against a rising prospect looking to capitalize on that opportunity. This isn’t the biggest fight of Jackson’s life by far, given his legendary battles in PRIDE and the title loss to Jones, but it’s definitely the biggest of Bader’s. And that kind of motivational disparity can leave the mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran coming into the bout with less than his best, even though he should win on paper. The Pick Jackson’s still one of the nastiest wrestler-slugger combos in the game, and his biggest weakness has been in junking his great takedowns and top game for a fists-of-fury approach. We’ve yet to see the epic slams and numbing top game he displayed in PRIDE -- his ground and pound of foes was epic during that run, but in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he only seems motivated to wrestle if forced to, as was the case in battles against Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans and Jones. Bader’s got to pick his spots and get out while avoiding Jackson’s big counters, which he’ll fire after covering up and absorbing shots. Jackson also has a tendency to wait around for opponents and see what they will do, then react off it, which can backfire against a motivated overachiever with a specific game plan, which is precisely why he lost to Rashad Evans. However, Bader may not have the wrestling chops to win this one, and Jackson remains a dangerous one-shot banger with a great chin. Jackson will probably be best served as soon as he gets nailed, or forced into a grinding, takedown-based fight, because it will wake him up and bring out his competitive nature. He’s the kind of guy who can lose or nearly lose a fight where he’s frustrated rather than hurt (such as the Evans and Keith Jardine bouts), but he comes alive when he feels threatened, like in the third match with Wanderlei Silva or the Chuck Liddell rematch. Jackson’s hot and cold, but it’s hard to see Bader outpointing or outwrestling him over the distance. There will be some good exchanges, especially as Bader is great at shooting his massive right hand disguised as a takedown attempt. Expect Jackson to get rocked at some point and "Rampage" to take over, forcing heavy exchanges where he eventually gets the better of it, forcing Bader to back up and go defensive. It’d be a stretch to say that Jackson might even score an effective takedown he’s ditched wrestling at this point, but those would certainly help. Either way, Jackson will prove too rugged and strong and gut out a close decision in a war. Jackson via decision Be sure to join MMAmania.com this evening for LIVE, detailed UFC 144 results of all the "Edgar vs. Henderson" pay-per-view (PPV) action. It will include blow-by-blow coverage of the Facebook video stream, FX "Prelims" bouts, and of course, the PPV broadcast. We'll start RIGHT HERE at around 7:30 p.m. ET and carry straight on through early Sunday morning. See you later! Jason Probst can be reached at www.twitter.com/jasonprobst and at jason@jasonprobst.com.

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When Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White asked Quinton Jackson several days ago in his UFC 144 video blog what he weighed, "Rampage" joked back, "You don't want to know." It's no longer a laughing matter. Jackson missed weight yesterday at the UFC 144 weigh in (watch the video here), coming in at a startling six pounds over the 205-pound division limit. His opponent, Ryan Bader, hit his mark and agreed to fight Jackson in the co main event despite the extra baggage. In exchange for his acceptance, Bader will receive 20 percent of Jackson's total fight purse. It's certainly out of character for Jackson to miss weight, even though he self-admittedly hates to train and get in shape. However, it's a bit more strange that it happened prior to his return to Japan, where he made a name for himself in mixed martial arts (MMA) thanks to his success under the now-defunct Pride FC banner. Shortly after the weigh in, Jackson explained that he was dealing with an undisclosed injury in training. One that was apparently so severe that his doctor advised him against fighting later tonight (Feb. 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. He pushed forward regardless against those orders because as he explains, it's his job to fight, whether he's healthy or not: "I wasn't going to say anything because I thought I was going to make the weight. I got injured in my camp, which kind of hindered me from doing a lot of running, but I didn't want to miss this fight because it was so important to me and I fought so hard to get it. So I just said forget it, I'm just going to man up and still make the fight, keep training in other ways. I just couldn't get my roadwork. I healed up and then I got my roadwork in, but it was just a little bit too late. I had a lot of weight to cut -- I cut 21 pounds. I just couldn't get the last six. I tried my best. I cut everything I had." On the FUEL TV post-UFC 144 weigh in show, special guest commentator Rich Franklin -- who is also a former Middleweight champion and current Light Heavyweight competitor -- talked with host Jon Anik about the scale-tipping mishap. And he hinted that perhaps a lack of motivation was behind Jackson's unprofessional incident. Jackson didn't hold back: "Rich Franklin better watch his mouth before I smack him the next time I see him. He's a fighter just like I'm a fighter. He should watch what he say. He don't question whether a fighter is taking a fight serious or not. I take all my fights serious. I'm tired of people saying that ... I'm tired of people questioning me. I haven't backed out yet of a fight due to injuries. I fight. If I win I win, if I lose I lose. I won some fights injured and I lost some fights injured.... It's my job to fight [injured or not]." Be sure to check out Bader's reaction after the jump. He, too, is now a little suspicious of Jackson's motivation, but is ready to get busy inside the Octagon because that's what he came to "The Land of the Rising Sun" to do ... not worry about his overweight opponent. "He came in pretty heavy, you know? It wasn't just a couple pounds. It is what it is, really. I'm not going to sit and dwell on it -- I didn't come all the way to Japan to collect some so show money, I came here to fight Rampage. So, that's what were going to do -- I took the fight and we're going to fight.... You kind of question whether he took [this fight] seriously.... It just kind of puts that in my mind like, I want this ... does he? I showed up. I'm ready to go. I don't really care that he didn't make weight. That's all on him." For everything you need to know about the co main event between Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader be sure to check out our complete fight archive right here.

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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returns to his old stomping grounds against Ryan Bader in the co-main event of tonight's UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson extravaganza. Jackson rose up in Pride FC and immediately magnetized fans and amassed a strong following for his hemispheric personality. His thousand-yard stare and the oversized chain around his neck was gimmicky enough to draw attention, but his sincere humility and good-natured wisecracking made for an infectious contrast. Rampage also seemed to mature and evolve as a fighter throughout his tenure in Pride. It began with a submission loss to Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba in his debut, then, a few fights later, started to reflect A-level talent with a reputable wins over Igor Vovchanchyn and former UFC heavyweight champ Kevin Randleman before catching fire at the 2003 Grand Prix. Rampage defeated another former UFC champion in Brazilian Top Team co-founder Murilo Bustamante, then added a third with a ruthless TKO over longstanding light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. Even though he spoiled the highly anticipated showdown between Liddell and Wanderlei Silva and ended up losing to "The Axe Murderer" in the finals, Rampage etched his name into the annals of MMA that night. Jackson was among the early waves of Pride fighters who migrated to the UFC and wasted no time: he stopped Marvin Eastman with strikes in his Octagon debut, knocked "The Iceman" out cold in the rematch and then unified the titles by defeating Pride's last welterweight (183-pounds) and middleweight (205-pound) joint champion, Dan Henderson. Forrest Griffin would dethrone Jackson in his first title defense and, in his six remaining fights, Rampage would only falter twice against the top-two light-heavyweights in the world (Jon Jones, Rashad Evans). More UFC 144 Dissections Hioki-Palaszewski | Gomi-Mitsuoka | Yamamoto-Lee | Fukuda-Cantwell Okami-Boetsch | Mizugaki-Cariaso | Zhang-Tamura Ryan Bader emerged with the double-edged honor of being a TUF champion; a creditable accolade, but one that required further success in the Octagon to authenticate. Validation came in the form of four consecutive wins in which the two-time D1 All American wrestler tackled increasingly prestigious competition: Camelo Marrero, Eric Schafer, Keith Jardine and perennial top-tenner Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. His victories over Jardine (first round knockout) and Nogueira (unanimous decision) were highly definitive for such a young fighter, and Bader had maintained his perfect record while establishing himself as a legit contender. His first taste of defeat came against current champ Jon Jones, who was tearing his way toward a title shot and took another step in that direction with a commanding second round submission. When Bader drew Tito Ortiz, the bout was assumed to be a step down in competition and the bon voyage affair for "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy." Defying the odds, Ortiz floored Bader with a punch and then sealed him off with a guillotine choke to make it two straight. Fast forwarding from contender to facing extinction with the risk of three consecutive defeats, Bader got back on track with a crushing first round knockout of Jason Brilz in his last. Gifs and analysis in the full entry. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson I think it's obvious that Bader's chances are slim if he tries to either purely out-wrestle or out-strike Rampage, but promising if he conjoins those two strengths together as one. This leaves the blueprint Rashad Evans laid out, which is an agile in-and-out boxing routine complemented by timely double legs when Rampage is preoccupied with striking exchanges. Bader does have the horsepower to replicate it as well. His stand up has definitely been forged into a sharp weapon and he's getting more comfortable feinting between wrestling and striking attacks. Bader is a massive puncher and moves well for his size and strength, and he'll want use that movement to stay at angles while Rampage is walking him down. The worst possible thing he could do is stand in front of Rampage, so I expect Bader to be in constant motion and only throwing short, straight punches like he did against Nogueira. That fight was also a good demonstration of how quick Bader's hands are and how he can take over by controlling distance with movement. The ace up his sleeve is faking takedowns, as Quinton will be forced to react, which usually results in lowering the defensive guard. For Rampage, the mechanics of this match up closely resemble the Matt Hamill fight. Hamill is a strong and fairly agile wrestle-boxer with a similar skill set to Bader, and Rampage was on-point with his striking and takedown defense. In fact, Rampage has spent most of his career polishing up a balanced release of his boxing to generate big power while maintaining the ability to sprawl. He immediately retracts his hips and controls Hamill's head in the front headlock position, switches to a right-side underhook for stability and then fires away. As in the Hunt vs. Kongo Dissection, Rampage starts to rely more heavily on threatening with the uppercut when Hamill keeps dropping his head in the same spot. With a wide, low base, a simple uppercut from a power puncher can be an extremely effective deterrent against wrestlers. Rampage has always had phenomenal takedown defense but is slightly more susceptible to quickly sprung shots from outside than trips and throws in the clinch. Dropping levels and rifling for doubles from the fringe is how Evans and Jones both grounded him. I've grown to respect Bader quite a bit and I think he's still improving. His striking has developed a lot of power, but I don't think it's refined enough in the subtle details to wobble Rampage or land the greater amount of effective blows. If he's flawless in using angles and mixing his attacks, I could see him taking a close decision. I have a feeling that Rampage is going to make a strong statement, nullify the early takedown attempts and look for the finish. My Prediction: Rampage by TKO. Gifs via Zombie Prophet of IronForgesIron.com Poll Rampage Jackson vs. Ryan Bader Rampage Bader   13 votes | Results

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In a recent video blog from UFC President Dana White, the outspoken executive was shown asking light heavyweight Quinton Jackson how where his weight was a few days out from tonight’s match-up with Ryan Bader at UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson. Jackson’s reply was, “You don’t wanna know…” Now that the fighters scheduled to compete at the show have all stepped on the scale it’s apparent why Jackson was so coy, as “Rampage” came in at 211 pounds for his fight – five pounds over the contracted light heavyweight limit. Fortunately for fans, Bader agreed to compete at a catch-weight and will receive 20% of Jackson’s purse as a result. The Complete Vlog from White Jackson later explained his problem hitting the necessary mark had to do with an injury he’d sustained in training, apologizing to fans and his employers for the embarrassing flub. Make sure to catch tonight’s UFC 144 extravaganza when things start up on Facebook/FX at approximately 7:15 PM EST before heading over to PPV at 10:00 PM EST. Here is a complete list of UFC 144 weigh-in results: Tiequan Zhang (146 lbs) vs. Issei Tamura (145 lbs) Takeya Mizugaki (135 lbs) vs. Chris Cariaso (136 lbs) Riki Fukuda (185 lbs) vs. Steve Cantwell (185 lbs) Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (136 lbs) vs. Vaughan Lee (135 lbs) Takanori Gomi (155 lbs) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (154 lbs) Anthony Pettis (155 lbs) vs. Joe Lauzon (156 lbs) Hatsu Hioki (145 lbs) vs. Bart Palaszewski (146 lbs) Yushin Okami (185 lbs) vs. Tim Boetsch (185 lbs) Mark Hunt (254 lbs) vs. Cheick Kongo (229 lbs) Yoshihiro Akiyama (169 lbs) vs. Jake Shields (170 lbs) Quinton Jackson (211 lbs) vs. Ryan Bader (205 lbs) Frankie Edgar (154 lbs) vs. Benson Henderson (154 lbs) PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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SAITAMA, February 26 – In a grueling fight between two hard-hitting light heavyweights, Ultimate Fighter season eight winner Ryan “Darth” Bader won a unanimous decision over former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC 144 co-main event at Saitama Super Arena.Bader used leg kicks to keep Jackson at bay during the first round and managed to disturb the former PRIDE star’s rhythm to the point he couldn’t land a single hard attack the entire round. A high slam by Rampage after catching Bader’s leg on a kick led to an awkward landing for the man fighting out of Tempe, Arizona in round two, but he couldn’t swing the overall momentum of the bout. Shortly after this highlight, Bader got a takedown and worked from Jackson’s guard. After getting back to his feet, the former champion soon found himself on the receiving end of another takedown. The final round was also all Bader. It was clear at this point that both men had expended a lot of energy. Towards the end of the round, Bader worked for a kimura on the ground but failed to lock it in.All three judges scored the fight with 30-27 in favor of Bader, who now moves to 15-2 with the win, while Jackson, who failed to make weight for the bout reportedly because of a training camp injury, sees his record drop to 32-10. Watch Bader's post-fight interviewMARK HUNT VS. CHEICK KONGOUFC 144’s sole heavyweight battle between 2001 K-1 Grand Prix winner and former PRIDE star Mark Hunt and French kickboxing ace Cheick Kongo promised to be exciting on paper and delivered on all its promise.Only one year removed from having his back against the wall and desperately needing a win against Chris Tuchscherer in Sydney to save his career, Mark Hunt seems to now be on an upward trajectory in the UFC with three wins in a row, the most recent one being today’s first round TKO win over Kongo.Hunt hurt his foe with a left about 1:30 minutes into the fight, and hit the mark again with a right about thirty seconds later, which made the Frenchman back up against the cage. Smelling blood, Hunt kept chasing after him, hitting him with one right after the other until Kongo collapsed on the floor and the bout was stopped at 2:11 of the first round.“You've got to be ready for anything. I caught him through the gloves and I knew it dazed him before I went in for the finish. I'm built to last and ready to fight on next week's card in Australia. Dana White, what's up with Sydney?” asked Hunt.With the upset win, Mark Hunt’s MMA record improves to 8-7, while Kongo’s record drops to 27-7-2 with the loss.YOSHIHIRO AKIYAMA VS. JAKE SHIELDSDropping down to his natural weight class of welterweight, Yoshihiro Akiyama returned to Japan to do battle with former UFC title contender and Strikeforce champion Jake Shields in what many expected to be a great battle of technical prowess and true Japanese samurai spirit.Shields and Akiyama didn’t disappoint. The American spent the first two rounds trying for takedowns and not getting them while Akiyama managed to sweep him several times. Shields did, however, press the action with striking while Akiyama didn’t engage as much, particularly during the first round, where he seemed very stiff.Shields finally got his takedown in the final round. Akiyama grabbed the cage twice in order to improve his position on the ground and was lucky no penalty point was called. Shields ended the round and the fight in back mount, working for a rear-naked choke with both hooks in.“It was a tougher fight than I wanted at first and I have great respect for Akiyama,” admitted Shields. “He has pretty heavy punches, so fortunately only about two landed.  You never know what's going to happen. I'd like to fight Carlos Condit next, as he has a controversial win against my teammate. I can't believe how loud and enthusiastic the Japanese fans were; it was great.”All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Jake Shields, whose record improves to 27-6-1 with the win, while Akiyama’s drops to 13-5 with two no-contests. Hear what Shields had to say in his post-fight interviewYUSHIN OKAMI VS. TIM BOETSCHYushin Okami went from being an outsider challenging UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in Brazil in his last fight to coming home to Japan and battling tough middleweight contender Tim Boetsch. To say he received a hero’s welcome in Saitama would be understating things.Okami dominated Boetsch standing over the course of the first round, using his crisper striking and kicks to give the American a sizable mouse under his left eye. Aside from an arm-in guillotine choke by Boetsch off a double-leg takedown by his Japanese opponent, round two was all Okami as well. The former title challenger worked for an arm triangle but couldn’t get out of half-guard. Then he used a kimura attempt to gain full mount. Okami rained down punches but Boetsch managed to buck him off into his guard to end the round.Boetsch rushed Okami to start the third round and kept hitting him with lefts and rights. Okami seemed rocked, ate a head kick and several uppercuts, the last one of which dropped him, causing referee Leon Roberts to step in and stop the contest at 54 seconds of the third round in a major upset. “It still hasn't settled in yet”, an emotional Boetsch emphasized. “The first two rounds weren't good, but I won the third round and that's what counts. Yushin hit me harder than I expected, but I was standing at the end of his range so it was kind of my fault.  I knew I had to move forward, but the uppercuts were a spur of the moment thing.  Awesome night overall. The next fight I'd like is Dan Henderson because he is a hero of mine and part of being great is beating your heroes.”With the win, Boetsch’s record improves to 15-4 while Okami’s record drops to 27-7. Watch Boetsch's post-fight interview nowHATSU HIOKI VS. BART PALASZEWSKIHighly regarded former Shooto and Sengoku featherweight fighter Hatsu Hioki was likely the toughest opponent Bart Palaszewski had faced since debuting in World Extreme Cagefighting more than three years ago. Yet, the 28-year old was more than up for the challenge, coming off his quick knockout win over Tyson Griffin last October.While there was no question who controlled the action in round one, where Hioki quickly dropped Palaszewski and proceeded to dominate from top position for the rest of the round, his opponent found the perfect defense for every situation the Japanese grappler put him in. Among the holds Palaszewski got out of in one fluid succession of motions were a straight armbar, a triangle choke and an omoplata shoulder lock.The second frame was considerably more evenly contested, mostly standing. Palaszewski kept kicking Hioki’s left leg, which reddened considerably over the course of the round. Shortly before the five minutes were up, Hioki faked a punch and finally got the takedown he was looking for, but Palaszewski had little trouble getting back to his feet.Hioki managed to get his opponent back to the ground quickly in the third and final round with a beautiful leg trip from the clinch. He transitioned into side control and landed strikes from that position, but was unable to step over into full mount. Palaszewski gave up his back, Hioki sunk both hooks in and went for a rear-naked choke. The Poland native defended the position properly and ended up not getting in trouble at any point until the round and the fight ended.All three judges gave the victory to Hioki via scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. “I am very happy to have won the fight”, said Hioki through an interpreter. “I was able to show my unique fighting style, although it wasn't perfect. I was expecting a standup fight from Bart, so there was nothing that really surprised me. I would like to get back to fighting as soon as my body has time to heal.”With the win, Hioki improved to 26-4-2 while Palaszewski dropped to 35-15.ANTHONY PETTIS VS. JOE LAUZONFew fighters have gained as much notoriety as quickly as Milwaukee-based Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. The former WEC lightweight champion and master of spectacular kicks faced a man today in Saitama who entered the UFC with a bang by knocking out former champion Jens Pulver more than five years ago and has continually improved ever since.While Joe Lauzon has acted as a spoiler a number of times in his UFC career, he was no match tonight for Pettis, who knocked him out cold with a left high kick to the head only 1:17 after the start of the first round. After Pettis followed Lauzon to the ground, referee Marc Goddard called a stop to the bout at 1:21 minutes of round one.“Winning that fight is an amazing feeling. I was on a bit of a down streak in 2011, but 2012 is my year and I'm getting a title shot. I'm back, focused and ready to go, I didn't get touched. I think I confused him with my southpaw (stance), had him biting on the jab, and then I threw the high kick and it landed. I wanted to put on a good show for the fans because without them, I wouldn't be Anthony Pettis.”Through possibly the most dominant showing of his career against a very dangerous opponent, the 25-year old is now in a very favorable position to resume his quest for a title shot. With the win, Pettis improved his professional MMA record to 13-2, while Lauzon fell to 20-7. Hear what "Showtime" had to say after the fight

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Quinton Jackson returns to Japan wanting to deliver a highlight-reel knockout on Ryan Bader.

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I have Bellator head honcho Bjorn Rebney's Dad; The Winnebago Man on in the background, so I don't want to dive to deeply into quantum physics, but for the sake of this article I will briefly. There is an alternate universe where Pride still exists, this much we know is true. Quantum physics tells us that the multiverse is real and Genki Sudo is dancing impressively in every universe conceivable, all while the MMA fan base is enjoying some amazing fights with Pride rules. The guys over at THQ have decided to digitally recreate one of these many possible parallel universes in UFC 3. To be specific it's Pride era Rampage Jackson Vs. Ryan Bader in Pride. The fact that it's a past Rampage fighting current day Bader throws the alternate universe thing out the window....Unless a time traveler in this alternate dimension picked up Quinton in, let's say 2005 and then moved him forward in time to 2011 where Pride still exists and Ryan Bader is under contract with them. Of course this is all predicated on time travel being invented/perfected pre 2005. We can't go back in time, only forward. So thanks for the completely unrealistic but still fun to watch breakdown of how a young Rampage and current Ryan Bader fight would go down in Pride, THQ. We appreciate it. [Source]

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Ryan Bader chats with the UFC about his upcoming light heavyweight fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the co-main event of Saturday's UFC 144 card in Japan.

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Two of the UFC's most talented light heavyweights will meet this Saturday night (February 25, 2012) as former champion Quinton Jackson battles Ultimate Fighter season eight winner Ryan Bader in the co-main event of UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan. Jackson is fighting in his beloved Japan for the first time since 2006 at Pride 31. He's most recently coming off a failed shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and is hoping to build back some momentum by channeling his older more virulent self. Ryan Bader is on the comeback trail. He rebounded nicely with a quick first round knockout of Jason Brilz after suffering the first two losses of his career. The former top prospect in the promotion is hoping to defeat Jackson and score by far the biggest victory of his career. Will Jackson be able to bring back his old slammy self for one more fight? Does Bader have what it takes to knock off "Rampage" in his home away from home? How does each man secure a victory on Saturday night? Let's find out: Quinton Jackson Record: 32-8 overall, 7-2 in the UFC Key Wins: Lyoto Machida (UFC 123), Dan Henderson (UFC 75), Chuck Liddell (UFC 71) Key Losses: Jon Jones (UFC 135), Rashad Evans (UFC 114), Forrest Griffin (UFC 86) How he got here: Jackson made the transition to MMA after a moderately successful high school and junior college wrestling career. He got off to a 10-1 start on the local circuit before he was scooped up by Pride Fighting Championships to compete over in Japan. He would be thrown into the fire immediately against Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba, losing via first round rear naked choke but creating many fans in the process. Jackson would go on to compete 17 times total in Pride, accumulating a 12-5 record over the course of five and a half years. His contract would be purchased by the UFC and after avenging a loss to Marvin Eastman via knockout in his promotional debut, he was given a title shot against Chuck Liddell, the man he'd previously defeated in the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Jackson destroyed Liddell, knocking him senseless in the first round to end the legend's era. He would go on to defend his belt in a five round thriller against Dan Henderson in one of the most watched MMA fights in history on cable TV. "Rampage" lost his title to Forrest Griffin in a razor-close decision and would have a mini-meltdown afterwards. He avenged two prior losses to Wanderlei Silva with another vicious first round knockout and was geared up for a title shot before "retiring" to film the A-Team. Since his return, he lost to Rashad Evans in a number one contender match but then defeated Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill to earn a shot at the belt against Jon Jones. Unfortunately for him, Jones had his way with Jackson en route to a dominant fourth round submission victory. Jackson campaigned heavily to be included in this Japan show and he got his wish against Bader on Saturday night. How he gets it done: "Rampage" isn't as quick as he used to be, but he does have his power and superior technique with his striking. Jackson is almost a pure counter puncher. He loves to time his opponents and take advantage of those openings they leave while they're arms are extended in attack. If Ryan Bader does anything repetitive, Jackson will pick up on it and explode with some heavy strikes. He's got a nasty left hook and an absolutely brutal right uppercut that can end Bader's night if he can connect solidly. Bader was dropped by Tito Ortiz in the stand-up just last summer, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Jackson can clip him and finish the fight. In fact, that's almost certainly what "Rampage" will be trying to do from start to finish. The former champion has a terrific chin and will be willing to take a shot to give one. Don't be surprised if he does something like leave his head exposed just so he can take advantage of an opening that Ryan Bader leaves when he tries to hit him. If Bader tries to clinch and go for a takedown, "Rampage" has terrific interior strength and his instinctual hip movement is some of the best in MMA due to his experience. Don't be surprised to see him try to shrug off everything Bader throws at him in the grappling department. Ryan Bader Record: 13-2 overall, 6-2 in the UFC Key Wins: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (UFC 119), Vinny Magalhaes (TUF 8 Finale), Keith Jardine (UFC 110) Key Losses: Jon Jones (UFC 126) How he got here: Ryan Bader started out as an All-American wrestler at Arizona State University. He got his big break on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter where he would dominate with his superior wrestling, ground and pound and top control. Bader would cruise through the UFC, working his way up the ladder with big wins over Eric Schafer and an impressive knockout victory over Keith Jardine. The victory over Jardine would earn him a shot against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 and "Darth" used his superior wrestling to squeak by with a decision victory. It was the largest win of his career and the UFC felt it was time to match two of it's top 205-pound prospects against each other. Bader fought Jon Jones at UFC 126 but was dominated in every category and even forced to pull guard at points. Jones eventually secured a fight-ending modified guillotine choke to earn the win and a title shot. Things went from bad to worse for Bader when he was upset by former champion Tito Ortiz in his follow-up fight, getting submitted in the first round by "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy." Thankfully, "Darth" Bader got back on track in his last bout, knocking off Jason Brilz in the first round. He's not getting any gimme's, though, as he again will be taking on a former UFC light heavyweight champion on Saturday night. How he gets it done: Bader is very strong in two areas, wrestling and power. He's not the most technical guy, but he's got enough zip in his striking that he can potentially hold his own with Jackson. His biggest key is to not get too aggressive as Jackson is all about the counter hook or uppercut. What Bader will likely try to do is wait for Jackson to throw something too heavy and then shoot and put the former champ on the canvas. Jackson has been put down on the ground by fighters like Rashad Evans with power double-legs and Bader is younger and potentially stronger so he could be able to succeed if he really commits to a takedown as well. Once on the ground, Bader just needs to utilize his heavy hands and try to hurt Jackson, staying active enough to keep the fight on the ground and avoid Jackson's ability to pop back to his feet or sweep him. Fight X-Factor: The biggest factor for this fight is this apparent new mentality for Quinton Jackson. He's repeatedly talked in interviews about wanting to put on exciting fights and putting on a show for the Japanese fans in his return to the Saitama Super Arena. Could this mean he takes more risks, potentially putting himself in danger against a young and dangerous opponent? If Jackson comes out guns blazing, Bader could key on that and take advantage of the situation with big takedowns. While "Rampage" has some pretty solid takedown defense, who knows how much he's working on his wrestling heading into this fight now that he's almost completely erased from the title picture. Bottom Line: There is a ton of excitement brewing with this bout. Jackson always brings it and there's always the threat that he could finish a fight with his heavy hands. Ryan Bader is also ripe for an upset as Jackson is coming off a frustrating loss at the hands of Jon Jones and you have to wonder what his motivation is right now. Does he want to still be one of the best light heavyweights in the world or is he just focused on having interesting, big-money fights for the remainder of his career? If so, there could be some serious fireworks in this fight. We should all have some high expectations heading in. Who will come out on top at UFC 144? Tell us your predictions in the comments below! Poll Which top light heavyweight will be victorious in the co-main event of UFC 144 on Saturday night? Quinton Jackson Ryan Bader   2 votes | Results

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On a recent episode of UFC Tonight the program asked viewers to pick the UFC’s most talented trash-talker. When the results came in light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was at the top of the list by a wide margin. However, during the build towards his bout against Ryan Bader at UFC 144 the typically outspoken Jackson has remained rather quiet in regards to his opponent. The 33-year old Jackson explained why in a recent conference call with media, stating he has no hard feelings pertaining to Bader as he seemingly did against adversaries like Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, and Wanderlei Silva. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll treat him with any more respect than he would he worst enemy once the two get inside the Octagon. “Honestly, I got nothing against Ryan Bader. He’s a cool guy. He never talked trash against me. When I fight guys like this, it’s never nothing personal. Most times anyway,” said Jackson. “But I’m just going out there like a guy putting on a great show for the fans. I’ve got nothing against Ryan Bader at all. I’m still going to try to knock his head off. But there ain’t going to be no hard feelings about it.” While there’s no personal issue between Jackson and Bader the bout is as important to “Rampage” as any he’s ever fought in before based on it marking a return to his PRIDE stomping grounds. “It’s very important to be personally,” replied Jackson on what the fight means to him. “My kids are from Japan, my kids’ grandparents are from there. They’ve never really watched me fight back in the day, and I’ve got a lot of experience in Japan. I really miss the fans; I’m not going to lie. I really miss fighting there, so it was something personal for me, so my two younger kids can come watch me fight and the in-laws can be in the crowd and watch me fight. I never had that before, so it is something that I want to do.” See how Jackson fares when things fire up Saturday night on PPV at 10:00 PM EST. Other featured fights on the main card include Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields and Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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UFC 144 brings the Octagon back to Japan and plenty of action back to the pay-per-view airwaves this Saturday night. The oddsmakers have laid down their pluses and minuses. Now it’s up to us to parse through the numbers and put our money where our keyboards are. As usual, let's begin at the top of the card.Frankie Edgar (-130) vs. Ben Henderson (even)Maybe the oddsmakers have finally come around on Edgar. Maybe, like many of us, they got tired of being wrong. Maybe they decided that if they have to lose money on an Edgar fight, they’d rather do it in the other direction for a change, just to see what it feels like. As Chuck Liddell said when I spoke to him for a very special edition of ‘Fighter vs. Writer’ (look for that on Saturday, btw): "I can’t go against Frankie...I mean, I have before, both times with B.J. [Penn] and the second time with Gray [Maynard]. But he’s tough, man." That more or less sums up my feelings on the matter. You get burned by ‘the little champion that could’ enough times and eventually you have to learn your lesson, right? Right? Yes. Certainly. And yet...I can’t stop thinking that maybe -- just maybe -- Henderson is the man to take that title. He’s a big 155’er with a solid all-around game and a non-stop motor. He demolished Jim Miller and won a cartoon dust cloud of a fight with Clay Guida to get this shot, so clearly he belongs at this level. He can wrestle, he can strike, and he isn’t easily put away. So why can’t he beat Edgar? Maybe there’s a quickness gap. Maybe also a quality of competition one, depending on your perspective. But Henderson isn’t out of depth here. Maybe an even money bet to claim the UFC lightweight title isn’t so crazy after all?My pick: Edgar. If Henderson were a bigger underdog, I’d consider it. But honestly, I just can’t bear to be on the wrong side of Edgar’s ongoing ‘Rocky’ saga. I’d actually rather lose money on him than risk winning while joining the ranks of those who pick against him every single time. Ask me on Sunday whether I still feel that way.Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (-280) vs. Ryan Bader (+220)The way I see it, there are two huge question marks here: 1) Can Bader take a punch? and 2) Does Jackson still care enough about this MMA nonsense to do well at it? These questions are equally difficult to answer. It’s possible that getting dropped by Tito Ortiz was a fluke thing for Bader. It’s never happened before or (in the one fight) since. But then, it’s also not exactly something Ortiz is known for. If a short hook from him can take your legs away, what’ll happen when "Rampage" touches your chin? Maybe nothing, because maybe ‘Page doesn’t really give a damn anymore. We know Bader isn’t his idea of a dream opponent for his glorious return to Japan. Of course, he won’t admit it unless he loses -- at which point no one reaches for an excuse faster than Jackson, except maybe Ortiz -- but it seems likely that he didn’t train as hard for Bader as he did for Jon Jones. Will it matter? Maybe not if he can find Bader’s off-switch with his fist early on. But if it goes into the later rounds, age and level of interest might become a factor.My pick: Jackson. I hardly even feel comfortable with it as a parlay bet, and I think anything over -200 is overvaluing the former champ, but I just have too many doubts about Bader. And after all, this is "Rampage" in Japan. Surely that still means something, right?Cheick Kongo (-300) vs. Mark Hunt (+230)Okay underdog-lovers, here’s your chance. You want me to believe that Kongo, whose grappling game consists mostly of shorts-grabbing, testicle-kneeing, wall-and-stall tactics, is a 3-1 favorite over MMA’s hardest-hitting, hardest-headed, and, as far as grappling goes, most improved heavyweight? Not on your life, pal. Hunt takes a punch like a redwood and is equally as willing, as long as it gives him the chance to punch you back. Kongo might start out wanting to wrestle his way to victory, but as we saw in his last fight, Hunt’s upped his game in that department. Eventually Kongo will be compelled, either through honor or a lack of better options, to stand and trade. Then we’ll see who has the better kickboxing and the better chin. I think I already know.My pick: Hunt. Usually I have to talk myself into picking at least one sizable underdog. This time the oddsmakers went and made it easy on me.Jake Shields (-300) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (+230)Now this is what a 3-1 favorite looks like. No disrespect to Akiyama, who still has the best walkout in the game, but if you get submitted by Chris Leben I have to admit that I don’t like your chances on the mat with Jake Shields. It probably won’t be the most exciting bout on the card. And despite his recent string of Fight of the Night awards, even Akiyama probably won’t be able to change that. Even so, it’s hard to see how this fight doesn’t get to the floor in a hurry, and once there you have to give the considerable edge to Shields.My pick: Shields. Make room in the parlay, because here he comes.Anthony Pettis (-240) vs. Joe Lauzon (+190)If you believe, as Duke Roufus does, that Pettis is MMA’s Michael Jordan when he gets in his zone, these odds might look like a steal to you. To me, they look like a bit much. Pettis deserves to be the favorite in this fight. He’s dynamic and unpredictable, and he really solidified his wrestling after that loss to Guida. Still, let’s not act like Lauzon hasn’t made fools out of a few guys who were supposed to trounce him. He’s beaten some very good fighters in his day (and some very mediocre ones), and his submissions game makes him a constant threat. At the same time, if Pettis keeps it standing you have to think he’ll easily out-strike him, and it’s not as if Lauzon is known for his takedowns. Despite a little odds inflation, that’s what will make the difference here.My pick: Pettis. It’s a parlay pick all the way, but I feel better about this one than I do about Jackson.Quick picks:- Yushin Okami (-345) over Tim Boetsch (+265). Does anyone else think this seems like a fight that’s tailor-made to make Okami look good in front of the home crowd? Yeah, me too. - Bart Palaszewski (+140) over Hatsu Hioki (-170). I wasn’t terribly impressed with Hioki’s win over George Roop, while "Bartimus" still hits as hard as almost anyone in the division. Look out.The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Jackson + Shields + Pettis + Okami.

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MMAFrenzy continues our main card coverage of UFC 144 with a pair of breakdowns of Saturday’s card. Each day we will breakdown a pair of fights leading up to our breakdown of the UFC lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and champion Frankie Edgar. Today we take a look at a pair of fights with Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo and Ryan Bader taking on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. MMAFrenzy’s coverage of UFC 144 will begin with the Facebook and FX broadcast preliminary fights at 7:30 PM EST on Saturday evening. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy for complete coverage of UFC 144. Keys for Mark Hunt (Chris Leslie): Mark Hunt is quite frankly at a massive disadvantage in his fight with Kongo. The kickboxer is now facing another kickboxer but Kongo is not afraid to get the fight to the ground if need be. Out-gunned, under-sized, and with nothing left to lose, means that Hunt can actually be more dangerous that normal. Don’t be surprised, if Hunt feels he’s losing this fight, if Hunt just decides to go out on his shield with an all-out assault in the country that made him famous. Keys for Cheick Kongo (Bryan Robison): With the matchup with Hunt, a fight that plays out similarly to Kongo’s most recent fight, against Matt Mitrione, could be expected. Yes, Kongo has excellent kickboxing. But so does Hunt. What Hunt does not have, which has been a weakness in the past, is serviceable takedown defense. In his first UFC fight, against Sean McCorkle, Hunt was taken down at will and finished with a straight armbar in just over a minute. For Kongo, who is undefeated since losing to Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir in consecutive fights, he showed a much more versatile gameplan in his fight against Mitrione. And while he has the power to knock anyone out in the heavyweight division, Mark Hunt is not human. He took a head kick from Mirko Cro Cop and just stared at him afterwards, wondering why Cro Cop would do such a thing. So it seems that taking the fight to the ground and wearing Hunt down is Kongo’s best chance to earn the victory. Keys for Ryan Bader (CL): It is very, very simple for Bader when he faces Rampage on Saturday. Chin down, hands up, set up your shots with combos and take Rampage down before he can counter. If he does that, then Bader can be victorious. If he doesn’t, well then he will likely end up counting the lights on the ceiling or he will be ole’d around the octagon like a bull in a bullfight. Keys for “Rampage” Jackson (BR): Finally “Rampage” Jackson returns to his second home- Japan. It will be nearly six years to the day since his last fight in Saitama Super Arena. While he won’t have 50,000+ on his side, he will still have a significant crowd on his side. It is unlikely we will see the “Rampage” of old, one who comes forward aggressively and slams his opponents. He has been much more methodical over the last three years, with it being over three years since his last knockout, against his rival Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 in December 2008. He has become more of a counter boxer than the aggressor, which will come in handy against Bader. Bader likes to move forward and put pressure on his opponent and eventually take him to the ground. Jackson can use that to his advantage, much like Tito Ortiz did against Bader, and when Bader comes in for a high takedown or even a double leg, counter against that with his premier knockout power.

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Though he has a strong wrestling background, Ryan Bader has plenty of power in his hands. He showed this when he knocked out Keith Jardine in the third round of their bout at UFC 110. Bader had a long undefeated … Continue reading →

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Well that's according to the makers of UFC Undisputed 3. They made a special simulation of the Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader fight, by hosting 25 A.I. matches under PRIDE Rules, as a tribute to the UFC's trip to Japan this weekend. Here are the stats they were able to gather after those simulations: - Rampage defended almost 80% of Bader's takedowns- Rampage won by soccer kick once in 25 fights- Bader recovered from being rocked almost 100 times in 25 fights.- Rampage won 14 out of 25 matches, 11 of which were in the 1st round. So under that PRIDE rule set, their final prediction is that Rampage Jackson will win against Ryan Bader by TKO on 7:23 of the first round. Related: UFC 144 Video: Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson Fight Simulation And Prediction Check out the video after the jump. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

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Ryan “Darth” Bader talked to the press at the UFC 144 pre-fight press conference about training here in Japan. He feels that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is just another name. Just another human being trying to take what he’s got. Ryan has always wanted to fight in the first Zuffa production in Japan but at the [...]

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You learn a lot about a fighter after a defeat. You may find out even more after two losses. Luckily, Ryan Bader passed all his tests with flying colors after the lost first half of 2011 that saw him drop back-to-back bouts to future light heavyweight Jon Jones and former 205-pound boss Tito Ortiz.He didn’t fade into the background, he didn’t hide from the bright glare of the media or from the barbs of fight fans. He took the first two defeats of his pro career for what they were – simple setbacks, made some adjustments, and when he returned to the Octagon at UFC 139, he took just 77 seconds to blast out tough Jason Brilz and return to the win column. Sounds simple enough, but a lot went on between February and November of 2011, and to make it into 2012 as a promising 205-pounder on the verge of contendership again, he had to look back to his college days and a similar scenario.“In wrestling, I was ranked number one as a sophomore at one point, and I ended up shuffling between the top five and top ten,” said Bader, an Arizona State University wrestling alum. “You lose some, but I got fourth that year. But my junior year, I went out and I didn’t place, I didn’t become an All-American after being ranked so high in my sophomore year, and I was kinda in a slump.”Enter ASU’s assistant coach Aaron Simpson, a future training partner and fellow UFC fighter. Simpson sat Bader down and gave it to him straight, letting him know where he lost his way.“You’re going out there and if you don’t have a four point lead or something, you start to do crazy stuff, and they’re scoring on you and coming back to beat you,” said Simpson. “You need to go back to what you were doing sophomore year – going out there, grinding it out, and winning by one or two points, but being smart about it and doing what you do and not freaking out if you’re not beating them by a lot of points.” Bader listened to his coach, earning All-American status a second time in 2006. Now he looks to have a similar resurrection in mixed martial arts, where he tore out to a 13-0 record and the season eight Ultimate Fighter title before losing to Jones and Ortiz.“I’ve been there before, so I know that I needed to get in the right frame of mind, and I have,” he said. “Going into that last fight, I put those two losses behind me, and I went out there and fought aggressively to finish the fight, and that’s how I’m gonna continue to fight.”Changing things around in his Power MMA & Fitness gym in Arizona, as well as bringing in Carlos Condit’s original coach, Tom Vaughn, has done Bader good, but there are certain things that can’t be dealt with externally; they must come from within, and Bader passed this test by showing his grace while being constantly reminded of Ortiz’ stirring comeback win over him at UFC 132 last July.“These days with social media – Twitter, Facebook, and all that kinda stuff – you’re always being reminded, especially that fight with Tito,” he said. “I get Tweets up to today about it, and it just reminds you and motivates you, but at the same time, you can’t take it too much to heart. You’re out there doing it and putting it all on the line, and stuff happens sometimes.”True, but at least it’s good stuff now, as the win over Brilz propelled the 28-year old into a UFC 144 co-main event this Saturday night against former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. “I finally have the ability to prove myself again with a fight like this,” said Bader. “It’s a huge fight, he’s coming off a title shot, he’s beat the Who’s Who of MMA, he’s a legend of the sport, everybody knows who he is, and he’s still in the Top Five of the division. So the opportunity is there for me again to go out there and beat him and let everybody know that I do belong with the top fighters in the division. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m gonna seize it.”And with Jackson hinting at a return to the aggressive, yet sometimes reckless, form that won him a legion of fans back in his PRIDE days in Japan, Bader sees that possibility as an opportunity to use his opponent’s aggression against him.“He’s mentioned that a few times in different interviews that I’ve seen, and when we were out there for the press conference in Japan, he said how he might be more open, trying different stuff, and taking risks to please all the Japanese fans,” said Bader. “I hope he does because if he does that, he’s opening himself up a little bit too. So there are pros and cons to it, but there’s nothing he’s gonna do that’s gonna really surprise us. We’re training to fight our fight.”That probably means using a controlled aggression, his underrated punching power, and his wrestling to keep Jackson off-balance, wondering where the next attack is going to come from. Defensively, Bader is probably safe from his Achilles Heel in his two losses – submissions – but among other things, Jackson has fight-changing power and the experience to get himself out of any serious jams.“Rampage is tough,” said Bader. “He’s obviously known for his heavy hands, he comes forward, he has great head movement, and not only that, he’s got great takedown defense. You don’t see many people taking him down. He has those heavy hips, he’s a big dude, he packs a hard punch and he can take a punch. So he’s gonna want to go in there and implement his gameplan and walk you down and land those big bombs on you, and try to put you away. That’s what he’s known for – knocking people out and slamming people and all that, but that’s what we’re ready for.”You hear that all the time from fighters, but you get the impression that Bader’s readiness is for real. He’s seen the bottom already; now it’s time to get moving back toward the top.“2011 was an interesting year, but I’m glad it happened because I wouldn’t have changed some things if those losses didn’t happen,” he said. “That was the catalyst for great things this year. I’m gonna go out there and beat a legend of the sport and I’m gonna be a new fighter. Each fight I’m gonna get progressively better and I want to get up there in the upper echelon of the 205-pound division and stay there.”

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Once hailed as one of the most promising Light Heavyweight prospects in mixed martial arts (MMA), Ryan Bader seeks to get back to the top of the of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) 205-pound division when he takes on the always dangerous Quinton Jackson at UFC 144 this weekend (Feb, 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Coming up the ranks at the same time as current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, the two were destined to meet in the Octagon to see who would catapult into title contention and who would take a step back and have to start from scratch. The pair went toe-to-toe at UFC 126 last year at on Feb. 5, 2011, in a bout that saw Jones have his way with "Darth," finishing him in the second round. The loss -- his first-ever -- was not one of Bader's most inspiring performances. Jones went on to receive his title shot much-deserved title shot. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bader, on the other hand, was next matched up against Tito Ortiz, whose career, it appeared, would come to an end at any given time. Heading into the bout as the favorite, Bader once again tasted defeat as "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" blasted his chin with a well-placed left hand and then sunk in a fight-ending guillotine to give the dazed All American collegiate wrestler his second consecutive loss. At a crossroads in his MMA career, Bader was given yet another opportunity to redeem himself inside the Octagon when he was matched up with Jason Brilz at UFC 139. Bader finally got back in the win column, defeating Brilz via first round knockout and earning a much-needed win and confidence boost. Three months removed from his latest victory, Bader heads "Far East" to meet Japan's adopted son, "Rampage," in a fight that can either catapult him right back into the mix or send him tumbling all the way down to the bottom of the pecking order. A recent guest on Pro MMA Radio, Bader talked about what it was like to lose two consecutive losses after starting his MMA career undefeated (12-0), and what he has done in preparations to upset "Rampage" in Japan. Check it out: "I'm a competitor, I come from a college wrestling background. And I mean, you lose, I didn't lose all that often, but I did lose in college, especially in freshman year and all that. I had a rough patch in my junior year and I had to work through that and get back to my senior year and make All American again. It's the same here in MMA, you go on a streak of wins, and I ended up having a loss to Jon Jones, who know has been running through people and all that, so after that loss, it took me a good week, where I thought nothing than about that loss, more so, because I did not fight to my potential. I felt flat out there, Jon Jones is that goo too, but I felt so flat and didn't lay it out on the line. You get over those, but then having two losses in a row, especially to one you're supposed to win, you just have to get back to the drawing board and make changes and that's what we did." On losing to former UFC 205-pound champion Tito Ortiz, a fight he was favored to win going into: "I don't make excuses, I went in there and he (Tito) hit me on the chin and I went down and I don't remember from then, I came to at the very end when I was getting choked and I was almost out, so it's just one of those things where you get hit, it's MMA, small glove and big men. If you get hit in the chin, it happens you know." On Jackson's aggressive style and what he feels he has to do to get the job done at UFC 144: "I hear a lot of people saying that Rampage will have the home field advantage and this and that, but I don't think that's true, we both gotta fly over there, we both have to deal with the jet lag, were both fighting in the morning. I don't really think it is like in the PRIDE days, where everyone knows him. If anything it puts more pressure on him to perform, to try and get back to his roots and perform like the PRIDE days and all that. In his last couple of fights, he comes out trying to box you and trying to knock you out, tying to walk you down, he's not really fast so, he slowly uses his head movement. He has got a great chin and he can take shots, so he knows that he can just walk through it to land his big shots. He wants to take one to give one you know? The keys to victory for us to mix it up, not let him get in his comfort zone, not just go out there and take him down all the time, we have to mix up our hands and kicks and take downs. I have so much confidence going through this camp, I feel comfortable, I know what I'm doing with my footwork and setup and my striking wrestling and I look forward to this fight make mine and my camps predictions come true. If you beat Rampage your right up there." With Quinton looking to put on a show for his Japanese fans, Bader has a tall task at hand in trying to upset "Rampage" and the fans at Saitama Super Arena. Not lacking any confidence, the bout against Jackson could prove to be a career-changer, not just for Bader, but for Jackson, too. Does "Darth" have what it takes to upset the heavy-hitter Jackson? Or will "Rampage" hand Bader his third loss in four bouts? Opinions, please.

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Outside of a fluky loss to Tito Ortiz and a stumble against the phenomenon that is light heavyweight champion Jon Jones it’s hard to find any flaws in Ryan Bader’s run since winning the Ultimate Fighter Season 8. He’s beaten seasoned veterans like Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira while also showing he’s not completely reliant on his impressive wrestling ability, possessing knockout power and ever-improving stand-up. However, when Bader enters the Octagon this weekend against Quinton Jackson at UFC 144 he’ll do so as a significant underdog. Even Jackson, whose experience and accomplishments outweigh Bader’s without question, hasn’t seemed particularly jazzed about the pairing so much as the fight taking place in his former stomping ground of Japan. Of course, none of that fazes Bader. In fact he actually enjoys the lack of pressure created by so many people counting him out. “He’s fought over there, he’s popular over there…but that doesn’t matter to me. I relish the role of the underdog, going in there and beating someone like ‘Rampage’,” said Bader in an interview with the UFC promoting Saturday night’s scrap. “So, if anything, that’s gonna give me more motivation.” As far as achieving his goal and beating Jackson, Bader has no illusions about the difficulty in doing so but has a gameplan in mind that could very well be successful given some of Jackson’s past difficulties against accomplished grapplers. “I’m gonna be smart about it,” explained Bader. “I’m not gonna just go out there and trade punches with ‘Rampage’. I’m not afraid to go out there and strike with him but I’m gonna mix every bit of my MMA training up. I’m gonna use my wrestling, I’m gonna use some kicks, I’m gonna use some boxing.” “If I go in there just trying to take him down that’s not gonna work. I’ve gotta mix everything up,” he concluded on the topic. Bader-Jackson serves as the co-headliner at UFC 144 with Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson filling the main event slot. Other featured bouts on PPV include Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, Bart Palaszewski vs. Hatsu Hioki, and Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis. Check out the full interview with Bader below: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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HeavyMMA's Megan Olivi talks to UFC 144 co-main event light heavyweight Ryan Bader in Japan about his fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

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Ryan "Darth" Bader talked to the press at Gold's Gym in Tokyo, Japan, right before his fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 144.

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TOKYO -- Watch below as Quinton Jackson talks about his UFC 144 fight against Ryan Bader, fighting in Japan for the first in six times, the Japan glory days and his recent criticism of UFC analyst Joe Rogan.

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TOKYO -- Watch below as Ryan Bader talks about his upcoming UFC 144 fight against Quinton Jackson, fighting in Japan for the first, his forgettable 2011 campaign, what he learned from the first losing streak of his career and much more.

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Ryan Bader takes on Rampage Jackson in a light heavyweight bout this Saturday, Feb. 25, at UFC 144.

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On the contrary, "Darth" plans to put the "mix" in mixed martial arts (MMA) when he collides with "Rampage" in the UFC 144 co-main event this weekend (Sat., Feb. 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. His plan (taken from the video above): "I'm going to be smart about it. I'm not just going to go out there and trade punches with Rampage. I'm not afraid to go out there and strike with him, but I'm going to mix up every bit of my MMA training. I'm going to use some wrestling, I'm going to use some kicks, I'm going to use my boxing. If I go in there just trying to take him down, that's not going to work. I've got to mix up everything. " Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader is an important match up for the future of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight division. Bader, who was once one of the most promising 205-pound prospects on the promotion's roster, is looking to build off the momentum he created with a knockout of Jason Brilz in his most recent performance. Prior to the finish, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 winner dropped back-to-back fights, his spot in the pecking order taking a free-fall. "Rampage" is returning to Japan -- a sacred place in modern combat sports history and one that is dear to him personally -- for the first time since 2006. One fight removed from unsuccessfully competing for the light heavyweight belt, Jackson has all the skill and motivation to send Bader back to the end of the line once again. One fighter looks to reach his professional potential, while the other is in the twilight of a legendary career, looking to make one final push toward championship glory. One fighter will attempt to implement a well-rounded gameplan, while the other will most likely implement the same one-diminsional "knock-your-block-off" approach that has seemed to serve him so well for more than a full decade. Who's it going to be? For more on the bout between Jackson vs. Bader be sure to hit up our complete fight archive right here.

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That would be very cool just to jump right into the old culture of what (Pride) used to have over there. – Ryan Bader

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Ryan Bader is trying to climb his way back into the land of the contenders following an understandable loss to Jon Jones and a horrible loss to Tito Ortiz. A knockout win over Jason Brilz shot him back into a big fight as he takes on Quinton Jackson at this Saturday's UFC 144. When Michael Bisping, a close friend of Jackson, was asked about the fight, he made it clear that he thought it would be a very bad night for Bader (Via ESPN): Asked if Bader had been granted a death sentence by the UFC, Bisping replied: "I'd say so. That's a very tough fight for Ryan Bader. "Don't get me wrong, Bader's a tough guy and I've got a lot of respect for him, he came back from two tough losses impressively. "But Rampage is going to be excited to fight in Japan, he'll be excited to get back to winning ways, that'll be a good win for Rampage." We'll find out if he is right this Saturday night when Rampage fights in Japan for the first time in six years. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

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UFC middleweight Michael Bisping has trained with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson for several years so “The Count” has plenty of insider information on the former light heavyweight champion. Jackson will make his return to Japan this Saturday when he meets Ryan Bader in the co-main event of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson. The show takes place inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and features seven scraps on PPV including headlining lightweights Frankie Edgar-Benson Henderson. For Jackson this will not only be a homecoming of sorts but a chance to get back in the win column after being defeated by current title-holder Jon Jones last September. Bisping believes Bader, also a former victim of Jones’, is the perfect opponent for Jackson. “I’d say so. That’s a very tough fight for Ryan Bader,” said Bisping, in a recent interview with ESPN. “Don’t get me wrong. Bader’s a tough guy and I’ve got a lot of respect for him, he came back from two tough losses impressively.” “But Rampage is going to be excited to fight in Japan,” Bisping continued. “He’ll be excited to get back to winning ways…that’ll be a good win for Rampage.” After falling to Jones and Tito Ortiz, Bader defeated Jason Brilz at UFC 139 to get back on track. Prior to the losses he’d won twelve in a row. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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It's always fun to make predictions, especially when those "best guesses" are being made by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) professional fighters on behalf of their colleagues in combat. This Saturday (Feb. 25, 2012), Quinton Jackson will return to familiar grounds when he takes on Ryan Bader at UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan. "Rampage's" former Wolfslair training partner, UFC Middleweight Michael Bisping, spoke to ESPN recently about the upcoming bout. He was asked if he thought Bader was being handed a death sentence in the way of his fight versus Jackson: "I'd say so. That's a very tough fight for Ryan Bader. Don't get me wrong, Bader's a tough guy and I've got a lot of respect for him, he came back from two tough losses impressively." Check out what else "The Count" had to say after the jump: When "Rampage" enters the Octagon at UFC 144, it will mark six years to the very day since the last time he fought in the Saitama Super Arena when he faced Yoon Dong-Sik at PRIDE 31. He'll be looking to redeem himself from his last performance, when he was submitted by a rear-naked choke by UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones in the fourth round of their match up at UFC 135 on Sept. 24, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Maybe a change of scenery will be just what Jackson needs. "Rampage" was a huge fan favorite during his six-year stint in the PRIDE organization in Japan. Bisping feels this will be just the opportunity his former stablemate needs to get back on track: "'Rampage' is going to be excited to fight in Japan, he'll be excited to get back to winning ways, that'll be a good win for 'Rampage.'" Jackson's opponent, Bader, has something in common with him. His name can also be found on Jon Jones' wall of victims, finding himself choked out in the second round of their fight at UFC 126 on Feb. 5, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The loss was the first of Bader's career and was followed by his second when he was choked out again by Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 on July 2, 2011 in "Sin City." "Darth" was able to get back on the "win wagon" with a very impressive knockout victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 139 on Nov. 19, 2011 in San Jose, Calif. When push comes to shove, who will keep the positive momentum going? Do you Maniacs agree with Bisping's analysis? Has Bader been handed a "death sentence," or is "Rampage" in for a tough night? Opinions, please.

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If Quinton “Rampage” Jackson defeats Ryan Bader at UFC 144 the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan may prove to be a bit uncomfortable as Jackson does not to be too big of a fan of the UFC commentator. Jackson recently spoke to Fighters Only about his upcoming fight against Ryan Bader on Saturday, February 25. Other topics Jackson discussed were his return to Japan and what would happen in a perfect world if he defeated Bader, which quickly led to Jackson offering his opinion on Joe

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Quinton Jackson is a legend in the sport.Hardcore fans know that this guy has been universally recognized as one of the best 205-pound fighters in the world, across all promotions, since 2003. Nine years is a long time to remain relevant in the “what have you done for me lately” sport of mixed martial arts. But “Rampage” is far from ordinary.When the 33-year-old ultimately decides to hang up his vale tudo gloves, his resume will hold its own with just about anyone’s, even if he doesn’t achieve another noteworthy milestone. To wit, he was the first fighter to unify a UFC and PRIDE championship.  He accomplished that goal when he successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight championship against Dan Henderson, who was then the PRIDE Middleweight (205-pound) Champion.He was a finalist in the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix, ultimately losing to then-champion Wanderlei Silva. At that time, the Silva was universally regarded as the best 205-pound fighter in the world. Rampage was unquestionably the number two guy.One fight after joining the UFC, Rampage did what many thought to be the unthinkable. He savagely knocked out iconic champion Chuck Liddell with a counter right hand that was so ferocious that Liddell dropped like he had been taken out by a 12-gauge shotgun. Rampage successfully defended the title one time, something matched by only five of the 10 other men who have worn the belt. Many believe the judges robbed him of the golden strap in his 2008 defense against Forrest Griffin. Robbed or justly scored, the fight will go down in history as one of the best ever. Several media outlets selected that bout as the 2008 Fight of the Year. Suffice it to say, Rampage is a fighting legend. By contrast, his opponent on Saturday night is still trying to make a true name for himself in the sport. Ryan Bader has long been one of the top prospects in the light heavyweight division. But he hit a bit of a rough patch in the first half of 2011, dropping back-to-back fights to eventual champion Jon Jones and former champion Tito Ortiz. Those were the first two losses of Bader’s career. He righted the ship back in November with an impressive first-round knockout of Jason Brilz. But Bader is still trying to find his way in the land of the light heavies.Don’t mistake those contrasting descriptions for a suggestion that this isn’t a meaningful fight. Quite the opposite is actually true.A win by Rampage doesn’t do anything in terms of advancing his standing in the division. It is a fantastic payday, of course. It is an opportunity to perform one more time in front of the local Japanese fans who helped turn him into a superstar. And it is an opportunity to stay busy in an attempt to ward off ring rust, something he has not done in recent years. A loss, on the other hand, would be devastating. Bader has never before toppled an A-list foe. Thus, if Rampage falls as the first such victim, it would draw into question the former champion’s short-term relevance in the division. Sounds like a no-win situation, doesn’t it? It certainly does to me, which means Rampage had better come out looking to make a statement because he simply cannot afford to lose or even eke out a close win.For Bader, Saturday is a no-lose situation. He’s the underdog, so a loss to Rampage does nothing to truly hurt his standing. A win, however, lets the genie out of the bottle. Bader instantly becomes a championship contender, if he can score a victory over Rampage. It erases all lingering questions following the losses to Jones and Ortiz in a way that the Brilz win simply cannot.All that means Rampage will likely come out swinging for the fences, possibly mixing in some of his long lost wrestling skills. Bader will be fighting loose and free, focusing solely on the upside associated with fighting Rampage. If that happens, this should be a tremendous spectacle for the fans because these guys matchup extremely well on paper – far better than their respective standing in the division would otherwise suggest.Let’s get to the matchup.Most probably expect to read “Rampage needs to keep the fight standing, whereas Bader needs to take the action to the ground.” True. But there is more to this matchup than the obvious.In fact, I’m going to reprint my breakdown on Rampage versus Jones, substituting Bader’s name for the current champion, a few little tweaks here and there, and a quick lead-in paragraph, because I believe that description perfectly describes this matchup, with a quick lead-in paragraph to set it up.Bader is an exceptional boxer, when one takes into account that he only began dedicating himself to that form of martial arts in the last few years. The former amateur wrestling champion possesses head movement, footwork and arsenal of punches that are well beyond his years of training. Plus, his hand speed and knockout power are enough to make anyone cringe, including Rampage. He relies on his overhand right too much. Other than that nit-picky note, I think he is one of the better true boxers in the division.Yet, as good as Bader is on the feet, he wants no part of a fisticuff exchange with Rampage. Trust me on that one. Rampage is one of the game’s most versatile punchers. He can knock out anyone with a single punch from either hand. Chuck Liddell got his lights turned out with a looping right. It was the first time anyone left Liddell in an unconscious heap in his illustrious career. Rampage put Wanderlei Silva to sleep with an equally vicious left hook. And he hurt Rashad Evans with a couple different shots thrown in short, compact fashion.Rampage also has tremendous wrestling skills, though he has completely ignored them of late. The last time we saw Rampage use anything close to resembling his wrestling was in his five-round thrashing of Henderson four years ago. By contrast, in PRIDE, Rampage was famous for slamming and then ground-and-pounding his opponents. I will never know why he has turned away from that strength as of late.Conventional wisdom suggests that Rampage should rely on his wrestling and physical strength to put Bader on his back, and force him to address the one major hole in his game that Jones exposed during their February 2011 fight. He showed no real ability to deal with Jones’ top game, so I see no reason why he would do any better with Rampage, since the former champion has absolutely brutal ground and pound, as well as excellent top control.Of course, only Jones has been able to put Bader on his back and keep him there. Don’t expect Rampage to follow suit, despite the fact that devising a game plan to create takedown opportunities may be his best chance to win.Unfortunately for Rampage, he is far too enamored with his boxing skills to concern himself with takedowns. He won’t be looking for a takedown, unless a Bader strike puts him on ice skates. Trust me on that one. I’m absolutely certain of it. Rampage will come out looking to throw hands with Bader to the exclusion of every other facet of his game, just like he does in every fight. That is true no matter who he is fighting. And it will be true on Saturday night.Bader needs to take advantage of that one-trick-pony approach to the game by refusing to engage in a boxing match with Rampage. He should take a page out of Griffin’s playbook and kick Rampage’s lead leg until the challenger can no longer put any weight on it. Rampage walks down opponents with laser-like focus, always looking for an opening to land a lead right hand or counter anything. I’m not sure if Rampage’s tunnel vision causes him to fail to identify kicks in time to check them. I don’t know if he stands with too much weight on his front leg. Or, maybe he just doesn’t respect anyone’s leg kicks. Whatever the case, that lone strike singlehandedly won the title for Griffin in their 2008 bout. It can also win the fight for Bader on Saturday night.Bader can also take a page from the game plan used by Jones and Rashad Evans in wins over Rampage – use strikes to set up takedowns. Rampage sits down on his punches so much that he routinely leaves himself open to takedowns, just like he leaves himself open to leg kicks. Once on the ground, he has virtually no offensive submission game from his back. He can defend pretty well, and he certainly has the ability to scramble back to his feet or sweep, but he isn’t going to catch Bader or anyone else with an armbar, triangle choke, gogoplata or any other submission from the guard. Back to the original writing.Unlike with the Jones fight, I don’t think that Bader has more tools at his disposal once the cage door shuts. Instead, I think Rampage is the man with more ways to bring the fight to an abrupt end, solely due to his arsenal of fight-ending punches and his top game. I also think he is the one with the greater physical advantages. Yet, this fight has upset written all over it, according to most. There are many who believe that Rampage is on the downside of his illustrious career. There is no denying the fact that he has not shown any growth in his game since joining the UFC. In fact, one could easily argue that he has shown competitive regression.Whether that is from the long, self-imposed breaks he has taken over the last few years or his waning focus due to acting or other outside interests is up for debate. What is not up for debate is the fact that Rampage performs better when he fights regularly. He is 7-1 in UFC fights with less than 200 days between contests. That lone loss came at the hands of Jones, a guy many believe to be the both the present and future of the division. When the cage door shuts, it will have been 155 days since Rampage’s last fight. I’ll let you decide what that means.QUICK FACTSQuinton “Rampage” Jackson•    33 years old•    6’1, 205 lbs•    73-inch reach•    32-9 overall •    3-2 in last 5 fights•    7-3 in last 10 fights•    13-5 in Japan•    Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion•    Former PRIDE 205-lb Champion (defeated reigning champ Dan Henderson after UFC/Pride acquisition) •    First man to unify UFC and PRIDE titles •    406-day reign as champion; 1 successful title defense•    2 submission losses in 41 professional fights•    Stopped 3 times by strikes as a professional•    Knockout of the Night -- KO1 over Chuck Liddell at UFC 71; KO1 over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92  •    Fight of the Night – UD5 loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86; UD3 over Keith Jardine at UFC 96•    Current layoff is 155 days•    Longest layoff of his career is 448 days Ryan Bader•    28 years old•    6’2, 205 lbs•    74-inch reach•    14-2 overall•    3-2 in last 5•    8-2 in last 10•    First fight in Japan•    TUF: Season 8 winner•    Both career losses by submission•    No post-fight awards•    Current layoff is 99 days•    Longest layoff of career (excluding time on TUF) is 216 days

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When Quinton Jackson steps into the Octagon at UFC 144 he’ll do so in front of a Japanese audience almost six years to the day since he last entertained a crowd in the fight-friendly nation. While that bout may have involved a forgettable outpointing of Dong Sik Yoon, this time around “Rampage” has designs on a highlight reel knockout win to leave a favorable impression on the fans who cheered him on during his formative years in the sport. Jackson, who understands it will also likely be the final time he competes in Japan, shared his expectations with the world in a recent online enty where he discussed opponent Ryan Bader as well as why the fight is so personal to him. “Nothin’ is promised to no one. I should beat Ryan Bader at UFC 144 in Japan next Saturday – and I plan on knocking his ass out in front of my Japanese fans – but I’ve put in the work in the gym to make sure I do that,” explained Jackson on his Yahoo Sports blog. “Some haters have said now that I didn’t get my belt back after three years of waiting for my shot, I’m not going to be motivated in my fighting career,” Jackson continued. “That is what my English friends call “bollocks”. I am very motivated to kick Bader’s ass. I was a little pissed off and disappointed that I didn’t get my belt back and I was upset with my performance. I’m going to take that out on Ryan Bader and – in front of the Japanese fight fans – put on a great fight.” “Rampage” Thinks Japanese Fans are Light Years Ahead of American Fans Jackson and Bader will serve as co-headliners on a card featuring lightweight champion Frankie Edgar putting his title on the line against Benson Henderson in the main event. Seven fights are scheduled for the PPV portion of the card. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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Ryan Bader was 18 years old when Quinton “Rampage” Jackson made his Pride Fighting Championships debut against Kazushi Sakuraba at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on July 29, 2001.

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SLAM! duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh ... Former PRIDE Fighting Championship superstar Quinton Jackson, who was able to transition to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) back in 2007 and win light heavyweight gold, returns to the "Land of the Rising Sun" for a 205-pound showdown against former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Champion Ryan Bader. "Rampage" will throw hands with "Darth" on the main card of the UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson" pay-per-view (PPV), which goes down on Feb. 25, 2012, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. What's the gameplan for Jackson? Well, aside from putting on a "great fight," he plans on taking out his anger, which came from losing a title shot to Jon Jones at UFC 135 last September, on his unsuspecting foe, even promising to "powerbomb him" if the opportunity presents itself. Or if Bader is dumb enough to let him. From his UFC 144 blog (via Yahoo! Sports): "I get to fight in Japan for the first time in six years. It's no secret I love Japan. Japan is where I became a MMA fighter, it is where I made a name for myself and learned how to kick ass. The fans there are so respectful, I can't wait to perform for them again. I really, really want a sick knockout for them, and maybe even I'll do my powerbomb if Bader is dumb enough to give me the chance. Some haters have said now that I didn't get my belt back after three years of waiting for my shot, I'm not going to be motivated in my fighting career. That is what my English friends call 'bollocks.' I am very motivated to kick Bader's ass. I was a little pissed off and disappointed that I didn't get my belt back and I was upset with my performance [at UFC 135]. I'm going to take that out on Ryan Bader and - in front of the Japanese fight fans - put on a great fight." Jackson made the highlight reel hall-of-fame by driving Ricardo Arona through the canvas at PRIDE: "Critical Countdown" in June of 2004. He also slammed his way to victory over Masaaki Satake at PRIDE: "Armed and Ready" way back in April of 2002. Is Bader next? Hard to imagine the former collegiate wrestling stud being on his back looking for a submission, but stranger things have happened. Expect this thing to play out on its feet or turn into wrestlemania if Bader can't go blow-for-blow. Early predictions on this 205-pound slugfest?

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Audio from today’s UFC 144 conference call with Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson, Rampage Jackson and Ryan Bader.

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Two nostalgic match ups pairing old school domineers of the Pride and SEG era will supplement the headliner of UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida. In the first, Tito Ortiz will meet Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a light-heavyweight contest. Credit seems to go to Mark Coleman as the pioneer of devastating ground strikes in MMA. Since the unified rules were yet to come about in his UFC tenure,"The Godfather of Ground and Pound" typically mashed foes from the top with savagely uncivilized headbutts and elbows were disallowed in Pride FC. For this reason, Ortiz deserves a mention for his violent effectiveness with punches and forearms, even from inside the guard without ever looking to pass. His tactic of snapping down elbows with a twisting arc when the guard player got strong wrist control is a standard facet today. Throughout the UFC's ill-fated dark years when the infamous accusations of "human cockfighting" paralleled thirty-six states banning MMA, Ortiz was the longstanding champion in what was then the 199-pound middleweight division. In fact, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" was such an influential poster-boy back then that many honored him as the integral lifeline when American cagefighting was facing extinction. Around the same time and on the other side of the globe, Pride FC was picking up steam. After figuring out which was which and coming to terms with the mind-taxing cruelty of nearly identical names and nicknames, fans formed a strong allegiance to the twin brother duo of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Big Nog) and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Little Nog). Not only were they fluid and artful masters of submission, the siblings always had incredible heart and spirit, were consummate sportsmen and just oozed a disarmingly infectious charisma. Sentimental reminiscing aside, this was a decade ago and Ortiz and Nogueira are now pining for relevancy. Little Nog is batting .500 in the UFC and coming off consecutive losses; Ortiz's victory over Ryan Bader was the only of his last five and his first since Ken Shamrock in 2006. The beauty of it all is that, though in the waning stages of their careers, both of these old dogs can still scrap. Gifs and analysis in the full entry. SBN coverage of UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida Little Nog is a high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt (one of the rare few to submit Dan Henderson), a 2007 winner of the Pan Am Games and a two-time super-heavyweight boxing champion in Brazil (2006, 2007). Of those vibrant credentials, it was latter he engaged to debut with a bang against fellow Brazilian Luiz Cane at UFC 106 (right). The stance and footwork of boxing, in its original form of the "sweet science", requires adjustments to MMA that inevitably dilute some the dazzle of jousting and parrying in the pocket with upper-body movement. Nogueira manages to retain some of those qualities. Wrestling, Ortiz's specialty, has been the trade Nog's struggled with the most. Cane was willing to oblige him standing, but his other three adversaries found the bulk of their success with takedowns. Nogueira bested Jason Brilz in a contentious split decision while Ryan Bader and Phil Davis racked up points with takedowns, the looming threat of which also kept Nogueira from squeezing the trigger freely in striking exchanges. What has to be tough for him to swallow is that Nogueira's takedown defense was well fortified with a strong rate of success. When totaling the stats in his two losses, Bader was successful on 31% of his takedowns (5 of 16) and Davis landed 36% of his shots (4 of 11). Another way of looking at those numbers is that from the standpoint of stuffing takedowns -- which is listed right alongside achieving one in the control category of the rules -- Nog was able to stay afoot in 69% of the takedown battles against Bader and in 64% against Davis. Those are respectable numbers considering the caliber of wrestler he encountered. I'm not sure Ortiz can replicate their takedown prowess and I think he'll have his work cut out for him. In a shocking upset few thought was possible, Ortiz hammered Bader in an early exchange and then pounced on a guillotine while Bader was still sweeping out the cobwebs. There were two minute details that made this more than just a lucky punch or a random fluke. Ortiz had struggled to evolve beyond a one-dimensional wrestler, even though he'd definitely enhanced his striking and submission game over the years. The fact that Ortiz first brilliantly feinted with a level-drop to set up his strikes and then uncharacteristically dropped back to finish with a guillotine were promising signs. For years we'd heard rumors that Ortiz was hiding a seriously under-rated BJJ game in the back closet but just preferred his wrestling competency. The first glimpse of this was the triangle choke he almost tapped Machida with and swarming Bader's neck was the next. To the right is a slow-mo depiction of the blueprint for every grappler facing a striker. Ala Randleman vs. CroCop, what seemed a predictable strategy became an ideal ploy. Ortiz, when he does set up his shots, does so often with the left hook. You can see Bader pause to steady himself for a takedown and he's also late and low in defending with his left hand. For as good of a wrestler as Tito is, we've seen him attempt (1) horribly telegraphed shots (2) from way too far outside (3) with absolutely no set up; three lacking variables that are imperative for success. Those are the kind of shots that I see Nogueira stuffing rather easily. Ortiz's stand up has come a long way and I feel like he's still learning how to mesh it with his wrestling -- he seems to be in either one mode or the other rather than transitioning seamlessly back and forth. How he addresses that tonight should be the biggest factor. It's not inconceivable for Ortiz to hurt Nog on the feet, but the odds do not favor him winning a pure striking match against a Brazilian championship boxer, nor do they if he gets locked in takedown mode and just shoots predictably from outside. However, if Ortiz can demonstrate a medley by interchanging fluidly back and forth between the two, he has a great chance to win this fight. We know Nog will bring swift and powerful hands, stable takedown defense and high level submissions, escapes and deep half-guard sweeps. This has been his consistent mode of operating where Ortiz will have to tweak his tendencies much more. My Prediction: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by TKO Nog vs. Cane gif by Grappo All others via Zombie Prophet of IronForgesIron.com Nogueira vs. Bader and Davis takedown stats via FightMetric.com Poll Tito Ortiz vs. Little Nog Ortiz Nog   1 votes | Results

Posted in: takedown, ortiz, nogueira, bader, nog

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Tito Ortiz hadn't won a fight in nearly five years and was on a three-fight losing streak. His 36-year old body carried the bumps and bruises of nearly a decade and a half of fighting and simply didn't respond the way it used to. Before, when Ortiz commanded his arms to grab the likes of Evan Tanner and and his legs to help slam the challenger against the mat into unconsciousness, his body didn't hesitate to comply. Losing to former champions Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Lyoto Machida isn't anything to be ashamed about but a fighter can only lose so many times in a row -- especially at a certain age -- before the thought of retirement begins to creep into his mind. After a loss to Matt Hamill, a fighter who never cracked the upper echelon of the light heavyweight division, it seemed time had passed by "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy." So when a fight between him and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 winner Ryan Bader was signed, it was seen as merely a way to get "Darth" back on the winning track after dropping his first fight to eventual and current champion Jon Jones. But Ortiz had a different plan. And it didn't involve being anyone's stepping stone. The former champion steps inside the Octagon this weekend as part of the UFC 140: "Jones vs. Machida" event to take on another longtime veteran and fan favorite in Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. He does so with a recent win under his belt for the first time in years. Let's take a closer look at his UFC 132 bout with Bader. Going into the bout with Bader, Ortiz was starting to be better known for his squabbles with baby mama Jenna Jameson than as being one of the most dominant champions in UFC history. Arrested on domestic violence charges, Ortiz claimed innocence and rather placed blame for the altercation on the actress. He was becoming more of a fixture on websites like TMZ and Perez Hilton than MMAMania and for any combat sports athlete -- Floyd Mayweather aside -- that can be a death knell for their career. Ortiz was determined to make a 180 and right ship, however. He did so at UFC 132. The fight opens up with both fighters looking to stand and bang. Bader begins to employ leg kicks early on, hoping that putting his opponent's leg out of commission will ensure less takedown attempts should the fight carry on into the later rounds. Las Vegas being like a second home to "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," those in attendance begin to chant his name. Like a giant skulled Hulk Hogan, Ortiz seems to draw off the crowd's energy and absolutely demolishes Bader with a right hook on the jaw that floors the TUF alum. The audience goes from supportive to ravenous. They explode into cheers as their hero jumps on his fallen opponent in vintage Ortiz fashion. An attempt at ground and pound is foiled as Bader gets to his knees and tries to reverse position on the former champion. Ortiz allows the reversal simply to sink in the guillotine choke he was working towards. Zero wins in five years, three losses in a row. None of that matters when Ortiz has his arm wrapped around your neck and squeezing the air from your throat. Short of going unconscious, Bader has no other choice than to tap. An emotional Ortiz completed his signature "burial celebration" for the first time since defeating Ken Shamrock in 2006. For longtime fans of the sport, it was like seeing an ex you hadn't seen in a while. Time had quelled all bad blood so instead, you only reminisce about all the good times you had. Ortiz went on to lose his next fight, a bout he took on extremely late notice against former foe and champion Rashad Evans. At one point, it seemed lightning would strike twice when "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" nearly slapped on the same choke that felled Bader. Considering the circumstances, no one was calling for the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" to hang up his gloves. He may be arrogant, he may make excuses but Ortiz is passionate about what he does and will continue to do it until his body finally gives up on him. It may not do what it used to but it did enough to beat Bader that night. Does Ortiz have enough to beat "Minotouro" this weekend?

Posted in: fight, ortiz, champion, bader, huntington beach

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Quinton Jackson will return to the Land of the Rising Sun for at least one more go-around, as “Rampage” will square off with Ryan Bader at UFC 144.

Posted in: ufc, rampage, ryan bader, bader, rampage returns

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Continuing their trend of putting together underwhelming fights for their Return to Japan show*, the UFC has announced Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs Ryan Bader. Quinton on the card was a no-brainer since PRIDE spent a lot of it's glory days promoting him as crazy homeless man to adoring Japanese fans. Ryan Bader ... well, let's just say there will be no sections of fans chanting 'Baderu!' from the stands. I try not to get all wah wah about fight bookings that don't stroke my fight boner. But a lot of us dumb fools secretly hoped that the UFC would go Full Japan and set up some stuff that would magically transport us back to those giddy Yokohama days of 2003. But this is so UFC goes to Portland. Yushin Okami vs Tim Boetsch and Hatsu Hioki vs Bart Palaszewski. Now Rampage vs Bader. It's all so ... responsible and by the books. Doesn't the UFC know it has Kinnikuman vs Bob Sapp to compete with? *Edgar / Henderson being an awesome fight that still makes no sense for Japan

Posted in: ufc, fight, vs, japan, bader

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It appears that Quinton Jackson will get his wish after all. Days after voicing his displeasure about being left off the UFC 144 card, “Rampage” will step into the Octagon against Ryan Bader in Japan on February 26 where he’ll return to his old stomping grounds at Saitama Super Arena. Jackson Upset After Apparently Being Left Off UFC 144 News of the match-up was first reported by ESPN citing a discussion with UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. Jackson, an seventeen-time PRIDE veteran and poster child for many of the their signature moments will fight in the Far East for the first time since 2006, when he meets Bader who is riding high after a quick and dominant victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 139. He will be entering his nineteenth pro fight in Japan and has won ten of his last thirteen contests. However, the 33-year old has rarely exhibited the explosive finishes he showcased in his early days in PRIDE. He has just one knockout victory in the last four years and may be hoping this second homecoming of sorts will bring out the “Old Rampage” as he has alluded to in the past. Bader, on the other hand, couldn’t be doing much better on a personal level with his first child on the way and an opportunity to climb back into the division’s elite with a win in Japan. UFC 144 will feature lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in headlining action against top contender Ben Henderson and also involve match-ups like Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis and Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields. Tweet

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Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will fight in Japan after all, as the former UFC light heavyweight champion will face Ryan Bader at UFC 144 on February 26 at the Saitama Super Arena, ESPN reported Thursday. Jackson (32-9), a veteran of PRIDE in Japan, suffered a fourth-round submission to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the “Fight of the Night” at UFC 135 in September after earning another title shot with wins over Matt Hamill and Lyoto Machida. Bader (13-2) recovered from back-to-back losses to Jones and Tito Ortiz with a 77-second knockout of Jason Brilz this past Saturday at UFC 139. UFC 144, which airs as a regular UFC pay-per-view on Feb. 25 in the U.S., is headlined by UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson, while the latest UFC 144 fight card features: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Ben Henderson UFC Lightweight Championship Quitnon “Rampage” Jackson vs. Ryan Bader Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama Takeya Mizugaki vs. Bart Palaszewski For complete coverage of UFC 144, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has a spot on UFC 144, after all. He'll face Ryan Bader in February in Japan.

Posted in: ufc, rampage, jackson, ryan, bader

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Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson will travel to Japan for UFC 144 and face former 'Ultimate Fighter' winner Ryan Bader.

Posted in: rampage, ryan, japan, ryan bader, bader

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I guess Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's tweet about not fighting in Japan was a little premature. It turns out the former Pride star will indeed be headed back to the Saitama Super Arena one more time, and he will face Ryan Bader at UFC 144. Brett Okamoto of ESPN has the confirmation: The UFC has granted Quinton Jackson's request to fight in Japan in February. The former light heavyweight champion will meet Ryan Bader at UFC 144. UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed the matchup to ESPN.com. Rampage is coming off a fourth-round submission loss to Jon Jones in a UFC light heavyweight title fight at UFC 135. He had recently been called out by Stephan Bonnar after UFC 139, but the UFC opted to go in another direction and match Jackson up with a different UFC 139 winner. Bader knocked out Jason Brilz in 77 seconds on the card. The bout is likely to be the co-main event of the UFC 144 card, with the main event being a UFC lightweight title matchup between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Ben Henderson. More SBN coverage of UFC 144

Posted in: ufc, jackson, ryan bader, stephan bonnar, bader

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After a good deal of public lobbying, plus some vocal displeasure in being left out of the lineup, it appears Quinton Jackson will get his wish after all and fight on February 26 when the UFC returns to the Land of the Rising Sun after a decade-long absence for UFC 144. Though “Rampage” had originally requested Mauricio Rua or Forrest Griffin, and Stephan Bonnar made it a point to mention a possible match-up with Jackson at the event, the 33-year old will instead face Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Ryan Bader inside the familiar confines of Saitama Super Arena. News of the bout was first reported by ESPN who cited UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta as the source. Bader is fresh off an opening round knockout of Jason Brilz from UFC 139 and holds an overall record of 13-2 including past wins over Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Though an accomplished amateur wrestler, “Darth” Bader often turns to the darkside in terms of finishing opponents off with nine of his victories involving some form of stoppage. The 32-9 Jackson wasn’t quite as fortunate in his last outing, tapping to divisional champion Jon Jones’ Rear-Naked Choke in their title-fight at UFC 135. “Rampage” made a name for himself in MMA during an earlier run in Japan as part of the PRIDE organization before transitioning to the UFC where he’s found success in bouts against Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Dan Henderson. UFC 144 is headlined by Frankie Edgar putting his lightweight belt on the line against Ben Henderson with other expected pairings including Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch, Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon, and Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields. PHOTO CREDIT – FEG/UFC

Posted in: ufc, jackson, quinton jackson, bader, arena news

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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will get his wish. UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta today revealed to ESPN.com that the promotion has granted the former champion his request for a fight in Japan, and Ryan Bader will now oppose him at UFC 144. UFC 144 is set for Feb. 26 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Broadcast plans for the event have yet to be announced.

Posted in: ufc, japan, saitama, ryan bader, bader

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Filed under: UFC, NewsQuinton Jackson is headed back to Japan. After campaigning for a spot on the UFC 144 card immediately after his loss to Jon Jones in September, the UFC has granted Jackson's wish of fighting in the Land of the Rising Sun. Jackson (32-9) has agreed to meet Ryan Bader (13-2) on the Feb. 26 card at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed the news with ESPN.com on Thursday. Amazingly, when Jackson meets Bader at UFC 144, it will mark exactly six years since his last fight in Japan. On Feb. 26, 2006, "Rampage" defeated Yoon Dong-Sik via unanimous decision. In total, the former PRIDE star competed in 20 MMA/kickboxing fights in Japan. The 33-year-old Jackson is 2-2 in his last four fights. He had won two in a row before losing to Jones in a UFC light heavyweight title fight at UFC 135. Bader, 28, snapped his two-fight losing streak last weekend at UFC 139 when he knocked out Jason Brilz in the first round. Prior to that win, Bader had lost to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz in 2011. UFC 144 will mark the organization's first event in Japan since Dec. 2000. The main event will feature Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson for the UFC lightweight title. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, jackson, jon jones, japan, bader

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Hi Bader. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 champion Ryan Bader managed to close out his 2011 fight campaign with a (stand and) bang, pasting Jason Brilz on the Spike TV portion of the UFC 139: "Henderson vs. Shogun" preliminary card on Nov. 19 in San Jose, California. The former collegiate wrestling stud was perhaps one fight away from a light heavyweight title shot -- until he was strangled by Jon Jones at UFC 128 back in April. His rebound fight, against struggling 205-pound legend Tito Ortiz, took his divisional standing from bad to worse after "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" bagged him and tagged him at UFC 133 via first round guillotine. Heading into last weekend's fight against Brilz, he was faced with the possibility of going from one fight removed from the belt, to one fight removed from the unemployment line. Then a big right hand found it's mark. Bader's post-fight jubilation (via UFC.com): "I feel a lot of pressure off my shoulders, I feel good. I trained hard and I trained with the best coaches and it showed [at UFC 139]. I felt comfortable, I really felt everything came together in this fight. I really couldn't ask for more. I haven't won in a year, the last two losses, getting a win just feels awesome. I believe in myself and I believe in what I'm doing and my confidence is building ... it's just gonna get better and better." Anyone think another big win puts him back "in the mix?" Or is he at least two wins away from even being in the conversation? Here more from "Darth" after the jump. For complete UFC 139 results and a detailed recap of all the action click here. To check out a recap of the UFC 139 prelim fights that were seen Spike TV, click here and here. Want to know what happened with the UFC 139 Facebook Prelims portion of the card? To read a full recap click here. And just in case you want to get up to speed on the entire UFC 139 fight card from top to bottom click here.

Posted in: ufc, fight, card, bader, clicknbsphere

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Ryan Bader discusses his early knockout win over Jason Brilz at UFC 139.

Posted in: ufc, ryan, bader, jason brilz, fightinterview

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Ryan Bader came back from the first two losses of his career in impressive fashion at UFC 139 on Saturday night. He went one-on-one with MMAWeekly.com.

Posted in: ufc, saturday night, loss, ryan, bader

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“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Ryan Bader put in 77 seconds worth of work and walked out of the Octagon with his arm raised.

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Ryan Bader knocked out Jason Brilz at 1:17 in the first round at UFC 139. Ryan Bader came into the fight on a two fight losing streak with the losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. Jason Brilz entered the fight on his own two fight losing streak with those losses to Vladimir Matyushenko and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.  Coming into the fight there were questions about Bader's mental toughness following his two losses. He was the clear favorite against Tito Ortiz yet was upset with a guillotine choke. It was Ortiz' first win in almost half a decade. Tonight he showed absolutely no signs of those losses when he put a beatdown on Jason Brilz. Landing a lead uppercut numerous times, the fight came to an end when Bader landed a straight right behind Brilz' ear. Several punches later and the fight was called.  Bader gets back in the winner's circle with this win and moves to 13-2 in his career. Jason Brilz drops his third straight and is now 3-4 in the UFC. He is 18-5-1 overall.  SBN coverage of UFC 139: Henderson vs. Rua

Posted in: fight, jason, bader, jason brilz, brilz

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Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, VideosSAN JOSE, Calif. - MMA Fighting caught up with Ryan Bader after his first-round knockout win at UFC 139. Bader talks about how he's changed in the past two months, the pressure he faced coming into the event with a two-fight losing skid, how long it took him to get over the Tito Ortiz loss and much more.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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Filed under: UFCRyan Bader is back. Bader, the former Ultimate Fighter winner who suffered two high-profile losses this year, had a great knockout win over Jason Brilz at UFC 139 on Saturday night. "Losing sucks. I was glad to get this win," Bader said afterward. Bader had lost to Jon Jones in February and then was on the wrong end of a huge upset against Tito Ortiz in August. But he made it look easy against Brilz: One hard right hand to Brilz's ear connected, and Brilz went down like a sack of potatoes. Brilz was out instantly and the referee quickly stepped in before Bader could do any further damage to him on the ground. For Brilz, the loss is a huge disappointment. Following his 20-second knockout loss to Vladimir Matyushenko, Brilz has now lost by knockout in less than a minute twice in a row, and he hasn't won a fight in more than a year and a half overall. For Bader, the win is a major relief. He needed this one, and he delivered in a big way. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: loss, bader, jason brilz, brilz, brilzs ear

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Filed under: UFCSAN JOSE, Calif. -- This is the UFC 139 live blog for Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz, a light heavyweight bout on Spike TV in support of tonight's UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion. Bader (12-2) lost both his fights this year against Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz -- both via guillotine choke. Brilz (18-4-1) is also on a two-fight skid, falling to the likes of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir Matyushenko. The live blog is below. More Coverage: UFC 139 Results | Latest UFC 139 News Round 1: %VIRTUAL-Gallery-139928% Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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Ryan Bader learned some tough lessons in his last two fights, but he believes it's made him a stronger and better fighter, and he hopes to show that at UFC 139.

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The main card of Saturday's UFC 139: Henderson vs. Rua show is complimented by a duo of preliminary bouts on Spike TV. Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz and Michael McDonald vs. Alex Soto will be featured on Spike's live broadcast, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET after the Facebook stream. Ryan Bader (12-2) vs. Jason Brilz (18-4-1) After knocking out Vinny Magalhaes at the TUF 8 Finale, Ryan Bader was one of the select few reality show winners to dive in against upper-tier opposition and maintain momentum. Knocking off two game submissionists in Carmelo Marrero and Eric Schafer, "Darth" Bader clobbered savvy veteran Keith Jardine with a third-round knockout. Even though I agreed that the judges "worship a lot the takedown" and also made a case for Nog deserving the nod, Bader's adherence to a wise strategy and his clean boxing against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was the fight that really convinced me of his talent and potential. At the time, he was still undefeated after twelve fights while demonstrating that he was much more than a one-dimensional wrestler. The hype-train veered off course just as I hopped on board. Bader became one of the many victims that Jon Jones would annihilate during his ascension to the MMA constellations. Bader would find himself in the unfamiliar position of tapping out from his back in his last two fights: the first after Jones rifled for a takedown, the second while recovering from the unexpected right hand that Tito Ortiz drilled him with. Losing to Jon Jones in any capacity is completely understandable. The Ortiz defeat was a big surprise, now upping the pressure to perform well and avoid three consecutive losses. Jason Brilz first emerged at UFC 96 boasting sixteen wins with only one loss and one draw. He notched a strike-stoppage over Brad Morris and then his stock shot up after defeating the quarrelsome Tim Boetsch by decision. His ensuing split-decision loss to Eliot Marshall was really a minor setback, as it could have gone either way and was not a poor showing. Back on track after out-wrestling Eric Schafer, Brilz turned heads in another contentious split-decision loss to Nogueira. Suddenly, the nine submissions on his record made sense and his crafty half-guard and grappling savvy was thoroughly impressive. Unfortunately, the quick knockout Vladimir Matyushenko delivered in his follow up fight was the only time Brilz had been convincingly finished in the UFC. Now, like Bader, Brilz is burdened with the ominous potential of suffering three losses in a row, i.e. the kiss of death for a UFC career. Gifs and analysis in the full entry. SBN coverage of UFC 139: Henderson vs. Rua His wrestling credentials don't quite stack up to Bader's, but Jason Brilz has a solid list of attributes across the board. While not as much of a power-puncher as Bader, Brilz has functional boxing and has demonstrated an excellent grasp of positioning, sweeps and scrambles on the mat. After imposing his wrestling, he's fully inclined to pass and advance position in order to maximize his ground-and-pound (right), where Bader is more content to stay in guard and play off the bottom-fighter's activity. Brilz's guard is pretty slick and might be his saving grace against Bader. Though far from impossible, it seems likely that Bader will be on top in most grappling engagements, eliciting the devious transitioning and scrambling of Brilz as crucial aspects. The animation to the left depicts how Brilz (and Bader) found success against Nog standing. Knowing he wasn't a legit takedown threat, they were both able to plant their feet and bomb away in the pocket. That variable will not be present here, as either fighter will have to remain vigilant with takedown defense while throwing their hands. In that facet, Bader definitely seems to have the better balance and footwork. If he can get there, Brilz loves to ride in the half-guard. This Couture-esque perch gives him a good base and angle to maintain control and shower down strikes. He keeps strong control of the head and threatens with the crucifix position to counter sweeps from deep-half and can also attack with submissions like arm-triangles in between spurts of punches. His style is fairly similar to Bader's, except he might have more technical grappling, but he'll also be facing a physical disadvantage with size and agility. For a fairly inexperienced wrestler, adding some basic boxing fundamentals and a huge right hand can work wonders. By strengthening these two skills and blending them together, the wrestling allows them to control where the fight takes place and choose between top-control and submission avoidance or a stand up battle. Having these options is exactly what has propelled Bader to every one of his UFC wins. Magalhaes (left), Marrero, Schafer and Nogueira were unable to work their BJJ and Jardine was just steam-rolled immediately. There was no doubt that Bader's striking prowess was not merely a smokescreen to set up his wrestling after the Jardine and Nog fights. Those opponents are legit veterans who'd traded with some of light-heavyweights most fearsome strikers, so the way Bader unhinged both in the stand up department completely changed my opinion of him. At the time, Jardine was his first monumental leap in competition and Bader was ballsy enough to unload a flying knee to set up the finish. Little Nog is a Brazilian boxing champion but couldn't really capitalize on the feet when he managed to avoid the takedown. Even though it doesn't excuse him, it's hard to look at Bader's loss to Ortiz as anything other than "he got caught". That's only meant to convey that the outcome doesn't offer much to analyze. That leaves the inimitable, ninja-like creativity of Jones, which doesn't really reflect a viable strategy for Brilz to undertake either. Catching Bader on the feet comes with the disclaimer of how Brilz, who is not really a knockout puncher, will have to plant his feet to generate power, which will make him susceptible to takedowns. I think Brilz is still a bit of an under-rated fighter but doesn't have many options to exercise against Bader, who might be a bigger, stronger and faster version in all the areas where Brilz excels. I am interested to see if Brilz can surprise with takedowns or at least threaten with them to disrupt Bader's striking, stay on his feet, hold his own in the clinch or create scrambles off his back. If he's able to find success in any one of those aspects, he could present a stiff challenge for Bader. Their stand up is close but Bader has more power and better quickness, which holds true with the wrestling comparison as well. My Prediction: Ryan Bader by decision Michael McDonald (13-1) vs. Alex Soto (6-0-1) Since this is literally the only fight on the card that I can't see going either way and there are no gifs of Alex Soto available, I'll make this a quickie. I think this is a clear mismatch for McDonald and that he'll win easily. Of course, the first thing that runs through my mind is the act of highlighting that bold statement followed by some Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V lambasting if I'm wrong. Michael McDonald might not be ready for the top-shelf bantamweights, but the kid is an exciting killer who I believe is firmly on the rise. His only loss is a Tachi Palace Fights TKO to Cole Escovedo when the latter was oozing determination in his comeback run after the horrible staph infection. Alex Soto is making his Octagon debut as an undefeated fighter but hasn't really tackled any formidable competition and was still put in many precarious spots on his rise to the UFC. McDonald's unreal pace and top-notch striking, wrestling and submissions should carry him to a commanding win. My Prediction: Michael McDonald by submission     Jones vs. Bader and McDonald vs Figueroa gifs via Zombie Prophet of IronForgesIron.com Brilz vs. Nogueira gifs via Chris Nelson for Bloody Elbow All others via MMA-Core.com Poll Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz, Michael McDonald vs. Alex Soto Bader and McDonald Brilz and McDonald Bader and Soto Brilz and Soto   18 votes | Results

Posted in: ufc, vs, mcdonald, bader, brilz

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Another week of MMAWeekly Radio comes to a close with a huge show including UFC 139's Ryan Bader, TJ Dillashaw, Dustin Pague, John Dodson, Elaina Maxwell and UFC 139 talk.

Posted in: ufc, mmaweekly radio, radio, bader, maxwell

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Prior to UFC 126 in February, Ryan Bader might not have been at the top of the world, but he certainly had a great view of everything below him. Then it all changed for him, seemingly in an instant. Bader lost his first career match to future light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. He seemed to struggle with Jones’ athleticism and surprising strength that overpowered Bader, something he had never had to worry about before. Losing to Jones, while not necessarily excusable for Bader, it was certainly understandable. Jones is a top pound-for-pound fighter, and has potential that has rarely been seen since the beginnings of mixed martial arts. But as Bader puts it, the organization is always seen in the light of “what have you done for me lately”. Unfortunately for Bader, “lately” still stands as a sour note in his career, as he went on to lose to Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 in July. A heavy underdog going into the fight, Ortiz surprised many, Bader most importantly, by knocking down the All-American wrestler and choking him out in the first round. “I took that loss to Tito very hard,” said Bader. “It happens in this organization, and all I can do is learn what I did wrong, which I have.” That brings us to this Saturday at UFC 139, where Bader will have the opportunity to show what he learned, as he takes on Jason Brilz, who is also on a two fight loss streak. “I am definitely fired up about this matchup,” said Bader. “Jason is a tough opponent who is a strong wrestler with heavy hands. Plus he pushes the pace, which I like.” “I am very confident about this fight. I switched some things up with my camp, as I brought in a new boxing coach and a new head coach. I had to re-evaluate things following my loss to Tito.” Now Bader says he is in the best shape has ever been in. That can be accredited to his continuing work with the gym he helped create, Power MMA, with fellow Arizona State wrestlers CB Dolloway and Aaron Simpson. Plus he feels he is not overtraining, something he feels he was doing in his previous fights. “Getting to train with guys like CB and Aaron, along with big guys above 220 to train for Brilz has been great,” Bader said. “I get to train for Jason and his size plus his wrestling pedigree. This is the best camp I have ever had.” “Regarding those fights against Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz, the fact is I was overtraining before those fights. That is one of the things I learned I was doing wrong. I feel much more prepared for this fight.” When asked if there is something else he would like to change, other than the current losing streak, Bader mentioned the running nickname he has been given by many fans. “I get told to use ‘Master’ as my nickname at least every other day,” said Baider. “Getting that a couple of times a week can get annoying. Perhaps it is time for something new.” When choosing between one aspect to change, chances are Bader can live with the fan-desired nickname, as it not only means he has returned to the win column, but continues to make his own name in the organization. For complete coverage of UFC 139, stay tuned to mmafrenzy.com

Posted in: ufc, fight, jone, something, bader

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PRIDE never die. This Saturday (Nov. 19, 2011), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will blitz the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., bringing one hell of a main event match up along for the ride. Former light heavyweight champion and Pride FC Middleweight Grand Prix winner, Mauricio Rua, fresh off of a brutal first round stoppage of Forrest Griffin, will take on former two-division Pride FC champion Dan Henderson in what promises to be a spectacular battle between mixed martial arts (MMA) legends. In addition, local favorite Cung Le will make his Octagon debut after a year away from the sport, facing the great "Axe Murderer," Wanderlei Silva. And that’s not even the half of it. The promotion is also bringing fight fans a stacked preliminary card, featuring fan favorites like Matt Brown, Miguel Torres and Ryan Bader, among others. Yesterday, we examined the portion of the "Prelims" under card that will air on Facebook (read the complete preview right here). Join us after the jump for a look at the two fights that will air on Spike TV, which will lead into the pay-per-view (PPV) main card. 205 lbs.: Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz Sometimes, life just sucks. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner Ryan Bader (12-2), fresh off of wins over respected veterans Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, was paired up against fellow mega-prospect Jon Jones at UFC 126. Unfortunately for the former Arizona State University (ASU) wrestling standout, Jones had no intention of letting anyone stop his rise to the top, and "Darth" found himself absolutely dominated in every area before tapping to a guillotine in the second round. As a rebound fight, he was paired against the fading Tito Ortiz, but found himself in a strikingly similar situation, getting rocked and guillotined early in the first round. With many questioning whether he was ever great to begin with, Bader needs a win Saturday night if he wants to stay relevant. Pretty much nobody gave Jason Brilz (18-4-1) a snowball’s chance in hell when he was selected as a late-notice replacement for Forrest Griffin against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114, and for good reason -- the Brazilian legend had just finished absolutely obliterating Luiz Cane, then considered one of the bigger prospects at 205. Surprising everyone involved, "The Hitman" gave Nogueira everything he could handle. And despite the judges’ unfavorable scorecards, won the fight in the eyes of many. He was unable to parlay that momentum into further success, however, as Belarusian veteran Vladimir Matyushenko pasted him in a mere 20 seconds. Now, with only one win in his last three and ZUFFA more cut-happy than ever, Brilz will likely be fighting for his career against the hard-hitting TUF veteran. Brilz got a lot of exposure for giving Nogueira all he could handle, but make no mistake, this is absolutely another rebound fight for Bader. Barring another freak early finish, Brilz really has very few avenues of victory here. Bader’s the stronger man, the better wrestler (even if he’s completely incapable of properly setting up his shots), and the harder puncher. Again, pretty much the same things were said before his fight with Ortiz, but I still consider that fight a major anomaly, and Brilz doesn’t have anywhere near the grappling pedigree of the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy." The transitive property of chins doesn’t work in MMA, I’ll grant you, but getting shellacked by Matyushenko -- who is a very good fighter, but will never be mistaken for a knockout artist -- raises some pretty serious red flags. I’ve never been high on Bader, but by all rights, he should take this in fairly one-sided fashion. I’m of the opinion that a fighter will reinvent himself after two losses rather than one, since it’s pretty hard to claim you "just got caught" twice in a row, and the new and potentially-improved Bader will simply be too much for Brilz. Prediction: Bader via second round technical knockout 135 lbs.: Michael McDonald vs. Alex Soto From the fists of babes come painful knockouts. The youngest man in the UFC, bantamweight mega-prospect Michael McDonald (13-1), 20, hit the ground running when he was brought into the UFC’s new bantamweight division, defeating unbeaten Edwin Figueroa with a cavalcade of submission attempts and brutal strikes. While his short-notice decision win over Chris Cariaso was anything but definitive, "Mayday," who had yet to leave the second round before his UFC debut, still demonstrated prodigious talent, and great things are still expected of the hard-hitting Californian. Former infantryman and current dolphin trainer (seriously), Soto (6-01), is replacing Brazilian prospect Johnny Eduardo on just 10 days’ notice. Soto, who debuted in 2009, is coming off a draw against DEEP veteran Seiji Akao, a man with a massive experience advantage. Despite his late start, Soto has been keeping busy, having fought twice in 2011 already. The Tijuana native has a massive opportunity in front of him against the fast-rising McDonald and has no intention of letting it go to waste. I’ll be the first to admit that McDonald’s "win" over Chris Cariaso was pretty debatable; Michael seemed to have considerable trouble generating offense, and his inability to stop a bafflingly sloppy Edwin Figueora was less-than-inspiring. I still say he wins this. Unlike a lot of undefeated guys, Soto hasn’t been taking it easy; Akao had three times the number of fights Soto had, and Alex was actually scheduled to face former Sengoku champion Masanori Kanehara on the nineteenth. Legit though his record may be, the short notice and the obvious talent that McDonald possesses have me leaning towards the American kickboxing specialist. This has the potential to be an excellent fight, but now that the alliterative prospect has more experience going all three rounds, he’ll come out on top. Prediction: McDonald via second round technical knockout We've got a card stacked top-to-bottom to cap off a four-week stretch of UFC mayhem. Life is good, Maniacs. Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of UFC 139, beginning with the preliminary card bouts on Facebook scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET. In addition, we will also provide LIVE, real-time results of the main card action as it happens throughout the evening this upcoming weekend.

Posted in: ufc, fight, round, card, bader

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Ryan Bader stormed to the title of Ultimate Fighter winner by being aggressive and showcasing excellent wrestling. After a pair of losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz, however, “Darth” was unhappy with his changes in fighting style. Now, after refocusing himself in camps with the likes of Aaron Simpson, the former NCAA Div. I All-American wrestler from Arizona State University feels like he is ready to put on a display that will impress the MMA world. Bader faces Jason Brilz in a light heavyweight tilt this Saturday night at UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson. The bout will be televised by Spike TV. “I’m going back to being that same fighter, but a more technically sound fighter,” said Bader, in a recent interview with UFC’s website. “I think I was missing some aggressiveness and was flat in the last couple fights. Looking at my training camps, I think I was over-training. The first fight with Jones was my first loss and a big fight, but what happened with Tito – I had to just put it behind me and move on.” Bader’s new head coach, Tom Vaughn, has helped give him a sense of direction. He also started a gym with Simpson and C.B. Dollaway in Arizona called Power MMA & Fitness. “He (Vaughn) has helped us out a tremendous amount. Having that game-planning, having that overall head coach. He’s been in the game for a while and he knows MMA,” Bader said. “I feel like a totally new fighter, especially in the stand-up area. I’ve learned from that loss and I’m happy with all the changes we made.” PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: saturday night, fighter, loss, bader, couple fights

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A year ago Ryan Bader was seen as the future of the light heavyweight division. An Ultimate Fighter champion with an accomplished wrestling career and knockout power, Bader was on the path to stardom when he ran into a planet-killing meteor by the name of Jon Jones in February. Five months later, Bader found himself being finished by over-the-hill Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz and is now looking at the prospect of a three-fight losing streak. Bader will look to snap his skid against Jason Brilz this weekend at UFC 139 as part of a lineup headlined by Dan Henderson having it out with Mauricio Rua. “Darth” recently spoke about the match-up where he explained he plans to get back to his old ways rather than rely on his old ways with an improved approach to implementing them. Ortiz Has UFC 132′s Top Performance with Upset of Bader “I’m going to go back to being that same fighter, but a more technically sound fighter. I think I was missing some aggressiveness and was flat in the last couple fights. Looking at my training camps, I think I was over-training,” Bader began in an interview on the UFC’s website. “My fellow training partner Aaron Simpson felt the same way and now in his last fight he felt great with different people running our training camps. Before, we were just killing ourselves day in and day out and when it got closer to the fight we felt like we had to put more and more in, which just beat our bodies down. Now, we’ve got the right formula in not over training and the right coaches. I’m ready for this fight and I’m excited. I want to go in there and get the win. I feel good. I feel like everything is in place. Mentally, I feel good and physically I feel I’m the best fighter that I have been since I first stepped into the Octagon.” According to Bader, he’ll need to be every bit the fighter he was when racking up twelve consecutive wins to open up his career. “Jason Brilz, every fight he is in, you know he is going to come after you for three rounds hard. There’s no quit in him at all,” the 28-year old explained of his adversary. “He had a great fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. We have a few common opponents in Eliot Marshall, (Eric) Schafer, and Nogueira, and he comes after you. He might not have the most technical standup, but he has power in his hands and every punch he throws is hard. You don’t want to take too many of those. He obviously has a good wrestling background and good submissions. He’s a dangerous opponent and I’m ready for him.” Ready indeed, with Bader stating, “The fighter I am today, I would destroy myself even a year ago.” “I guess you don’t realize it because you are in here every day and you don’t realize how you’re growing as a fighter,” he continued. “It’s kind of like a parent who might not notice how much their kid is growing as opposed to someone who hasn’t seen them for a few months. I feel like that’s how it is in the gym, in the trenches, but you do realize it. Like I’ve had sparring partners that would beat my ass back in the day that I went with recently and I was like how did that ever happen? Your progression is about being around the right people and the right training partners and that’s what we have going on now. We’ve always had our core training partners and we’ve gotten even more now and a great coaching staff. I’ve brought in guys who are like Brilz that are great wrestlers. I feel better going into every camp, especially with these losses, and trying to get better for the next win. It forces you to get better. If you’re not trying to get better after a loss then you don’t need to be in this game.” Fans can catch Bader vs. Brilz on the Spike TV preliminary portion of the UFC 139 broadcast starting at 8:00 PM EST. Bader holds an overall record of 12-2 with wins of Nogueira and Keith Jardine among others. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: ufc, fight, fighter, training, bader

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“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.” - Winston ChurchillNo one remains undefeated forever. That goes double in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, which features a litany of 225-pound athletic, super freaks cutting down to 205 to throw their high-speed knuckle bombs with only a strip of leather to cushion the blow. The Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner Ryan Bader learned that the hard way by racking up back-to-back losses by guillotine choke this year. While that was a difficult lesson to digest, Bader believes he has made the necessary changes to bring him not only back to his usual winning ways, but push him further as one of top fist-missile throwers inside the Octagon.“It was kind of a weird place where I was at,” says Bader about his mindset following the loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 132. “I was winning before using a certain style, whereas now I'm a lot better fighter than I was - better technique wise. It became, do I use this better technique or do I go back to the old me where I was going out there and throwing big overhands all the time trying to knock people out or do I be more technical and keep evolving? It was hard to say 'keep evolving' because of having two losses in a row. I feel like I had gotten to the point in my standup where I was hitting a plateau with some people and I got some new people and it has opened up a whole new world for me to see what striking is really like and how it works for me.” “So I'm going to go back to being that same fighter, but a more technically sound fighter,” he continues. “I think I was missing some aggressiveness and was flat in the last couple fights. Looking at my training camps, I think I was over-training. My fellow training partner Aaron Simpson felt the same way and now in his last fight he felt great with different people running our training camps. Before, we were just killing ourselves day in and day out and when it got closer to the fight we felt like we had to put more and more in, which just beat our bodies down. Now, we've got the right formula in not over training and the right coaches. I'm ready for this fight and I'm excited. I want to go in there and get the win. I feel good. I feel like everything is in place. Mentally, I feel good and physically I feel I'm the best fighter that I have been since I first stepped into the Octagon.”At 28 years old, the two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler from Arizona State University is not a star struck rookie under the bright lights of elite level competition. Bader knows the ups and down of sports - you win some (13) and you lose some (2), but you progress to do better next time. After three years of fighting inside the Octagon, including winning TUF 8, Bader is experiencing a rough patch, but in some way it is a blessing in disguise. Bader has re-evaluated what he was doing in training, addressed what he believed were problem areas, and feels he has improved overall because of it. “The first fight with Jon Jones was my first loss and a big fight, but what happened with Tito - I had to just put it behind me and move on,” explains Bader. “I actually acted upon it this time and made changes and it has gone great so far. I'm glad that happened because I don't know if I would have done any of that if I had went out and had beaten Tito, and I don't think I would have had made any changes. I wouldn't have evolved to the point where I'm evolving right now. Losing sucks. It is a horrible feeling. I hated losing in college wrestling and I hate losing in MMA. I want to put on an impressive performance and get a win, first and foremost.”The key change was hiring Tom Vaughn as head coach. The ASU cagefighting triumvirate of Bader, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson started their own gym last year in Gilbert, Arizona, entitled Power MMA & Fitness. While putting together their own MMA sanctuary, the team didn’t lack for excellent training partners or specific style coaches, but they didn’t have an overall head coach to help blend it all together, as well as be the overseer monitoring their training. They solved this by bringing in Vaughn from the Fit NHB gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as he’s a coach who has groomed such notable fighters as Carlos Condit. “He has helped us out a tremendous amount,” boasts Bader. “Having that gameplanning, having that overall head coach. He's been in the game for a while and he knows MMA. Before, we had individual coaches as far as a Muay Thai coach, boxing coach, a jiu-jitsu coach. They all want to see you excel in their discipline and rightfully so. They want you to use your kicks, use your boxing and so forth. But the head coach can come in and see your overall game, get a gameplan down, and oversee your practices. It's so when I show up to the gym, I don't have to worry about what I'm doing, I can just do what the coach says. I've been working a lot on restructuring my game for what best fits my fighting style. I've dropped some things and added some things and I think it really has helped out. I feel like a totally new fighter, especially in the standup area. I've learned from the loss and I'm happy with all the changes we made.”The first chance to put Bader version 2.0 into action will be on November 19th at UFC 139 against Jason Brilz. The three-time NCAA Division II All-American out of the University of Nebraska at Omaha is in a similar situation as Bader, as he’s suffered back-to-back losses and is in desperate need of a win. Brilz lost a controversial split decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114, followed by a totally uncharacteristic one-punch knockout loss to Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 129 in April. Brilz and Bader are both great wrestlers, both are durable, both have heavy hands, and both need a win, which should equal a gritty and exciting light heavyweight bout.“Jason Brilz, every fight he is in, you know he is going to come after you for three rounds hard,” affirms Bader. “There's no quit in him at all. He had a great fight with Nogueira. We have a few common opponents in Eliot Marshall, ‘Red’ Schafer and Nogueira, and he comes after you. He might not have the most technical standup, but he has power in his hands and every punch he throws is hard. You don't want to take too many of those. He obviously has a good wrestling background and good submissions. He's a dangerous opponent and I'm ready for him.”It seems counter-intuitive, but fight fans should know by now that with two powerful wrestlers squaring off in the Octagon, it usually means one thing: striker’s duel. “They'll see a lot more polished standup where I will actually use it,” asserts Bader, who has shown marked improvement in his standup since his UFC debut, but he believes we’ll see a whole new beast entirely. “Also, a lot of little stuff I’ve learned, like little ground and pound stuff that I had never seen before and little transitions. Overall, I'll be more technical and a better fighter on my feet, on the ground, and just everywhere. That's what I'm looking forward to - putting on a good show and getting the win.”The one thing that hasn’t changed this past year is Bader’s confidence in himself as a professional fighter. Only fighting three or four times a year in a sport where a fight can go from bad to worse to over in a couple seconds, it’s difficult to gauge how much better a mixed martial artist is than they were. MMA isn’t a sport for individual statistics; it only has the fatalistic win or loss. The athlete themselves can see or feel when they have gotten better. Bader knows without a doubt he is better at this sport now and he aims to show the UFC fans against Brilz.“The fighter I am today, I would destroy myself even a year ago,” declares Bader. “I guess you don't realize it because you are in here every day and you don't realize how you're growing as a fighter. It's kind of like a parent who might not notice how much their kid is growing as opposed to someone who hasn't seen them for a few months. I feel like that's how it is in the gym, in the trenches, but you do realize it. Like I've had sparring partners that would beat my ass back in the day that I went with recently and I was like how did that ever happen? Your progression is about being around the right people and the right training partners and that's what we have going on now. We've always had our core training partners and we've gotten even more now and a great coaching staff. I've brought in guys who are like Brilz that are great wrestlers. I feel better going into every camp, especially with these losses, and trying to get better for the next win. It forces you to get better. If you're not trying to get better after a loss then you don't need to be in this game.”This weekend, a re-focused and re-energized Bader will look to put the pressure on Brilz and secure his first win in 2011. “I really feel I can go out there and get a finish in this fight, whether that's on the feet or getting on top and ground and pounding - I really do feel like I'm going to catch him,” says Bader, who wants to get back to playing the alphabet game in his favor by earning some W’s with a few TKO’s meaning a whole lot of L’s for his opponents. “The stuff that I have evolved with in my standup is going to throw a lot of fighters off if they're looking at my past tapes. He's going to be expecting one fighter and another fighter is going to come out there and he's going to be in trouble. I'm looking to go out there and definitely finish him.”We’re all taught that everything in life isn’t about winning or losing, but who are we kidding? No one plays a sport, especially professionally, to lose. At UFC 139, Bader is going to try and tear Brilz’s head off if he gets the chance.

Posted in: fight, fighter, coach, bader, im

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Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson, C.B. Dollaway and the team at Power MMA & Fitness have added head coach Tom Vaughn to the team and they believe he's been the missing piece to the puzzle.

Posted in: bader, tom vaughn, puzzle piece, puzzle, tom

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The UFC Prelims special on Spike TV for November’s UFC 139 event will feature light heavyweights Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz and middleweights Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman, according to MMAjunkie. Bader (12-2), the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 8, is looking to rebound from back-to-back losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz after winning his first 5 UFC fights and 12 overall, while Brilz (18-4-1) has lost 3 of his last 4, including consecutive losses to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir Matyushenko. Lawlor (7-3), a castmember of TUF 8, rebounded from back-to-back losses with a unanimous decision over Patrick Cote last October, while Weidman (6-0) has remained undefeated with UFC wins over Alessio Sakara and Jesse Bongfeldt. UFC 139, which takes place on Nov. 19 in San Jose, California, is headlined by light heavyweight contenders Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and also includes Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le and Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles. For complete UFC 139 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com. Pictured: Ryan Bader

Posted in: ufc, loss, vs, spike tv, bader

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As has become customary, the Spike TV prelims special for UFC 139 in November will feature a pair of Ultimate Fighter alums. Fightline reports today the two bouts chosen for the live broadcast are: Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor and Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz. Bader and Lawlor were both contestants on the eight season of TUF, and although Bader went on to win the season, Lawlor has proven to be more of a fan favorite with his homages to MMA legends during weigh-ins, and his questionable choices of entrance attire and music. Both have tough tasks ahead of them in San Jose though. Bader is in desperate need of a win after two consecutive guillotine choke losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. The Jones loss is obviously nothing to be embarrassed about, as Jones has been just about every opponent he faces look just as silly as he did Bader, but the Ortiz fight was certainly a case of the young prospect not taking an aging veteran seriously. Brilz, meanwhile, finds himself in dire straits as well. After coming off a surprising performance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (that many thought he won), Brilz unfortunately followed it up by getting knocked out by Vladimir Matyushenko, who hasn't exactly shown much KO power before. Lawlor will be facing one of the middleweight division's brightest prospects who can probably match or eclipse all of his strengths. Weidman was a two-time All American wrestler at Hofstra and also placed third in the NCAA tournament, and when he turned to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu while training under Matt Serra, he excelled there as well, gaining entry to the prestigious ADCC grappling tournament in 2009 where he made it all the way to a close points loss to grappling wizard, Andre Galvao, who also won his division and the absolute division in the ADCCs this year. Weidman is still refining his striking, and they may be one area where Lawlor can outmatch him, but if this goes to the ground (and with Weidman's credentials, it likely will), it may be a long night for "Filthy Tom". Here's how the UFC 139 card, which airs live on pay per view from San Jose, California on November 19th, currently stacks up: PPV Main Card: -Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua -Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le -Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles -Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann-Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle KingsburySpike TV Prelims:-Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor-Ryan Bader vs. Jason BrilzFacebook Prelims:-Michael McDonald vs. Johnny Eduardo-Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace-Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau  

Posted in: vs, san jose, bader, weidman, lawlor

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When TUF 8 winner Ryan Bader makes his return to the ring next month he’ll find himself in a very unfamiliar position. A winner in twelve straight to open up his career, Bader has been submitted in his last two tussles including an opening round loss to Tito Ortiz last July. Bader will look to rekindle his once blazing hot career November 19 against Jason Brilz, another competitor who has wowed at times but is currently on a two-fight skid, at UFC 139 where the light heavyweights will face off as part of the event’s undercard. Fortunately, fans interested in seeing how things unfold can tune in and watch the bout unfold on Spike TV live along with another preliminary pairing between middleweights Chris Weidman and Tom Lawlor. The 28-year old Bader has already racked up a number of impressive outings in his relatively young career including wins over Keith Jardine and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. A grappler by trade, “Darth” has been anything but the standard lay-and-pray wrestler with three-quarters of his triumphs coming by way of a stoppage including five TKOs. Brilz is coming off a knockout loss to Vladimir Matyushenko, and though he may only be 3-3 in the UFC, two of his stumbles have involved a Split Decision including a hotly-contested clash with Nogueira at UFC 114. Among his instances of success in the Octagon are victories over Eric Schafer and Tim Boetsch. Highlights from the UFC 139 Press Conference UFC 139 is shaping up to be one of the organization’s biggest cards in recent history with a number of intriguing match-ups already announced for the lineup such as Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles, Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann, Cung Le vs. Wanderlei Silva, and Mauricio Rua vs. Dan Henderson. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: ufc, vs, spike tv, bader, jason brilz

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