After losing to Tito Ortiz, Ryan Bader needs to get back to his winning ways and snap a two-fight losing streak.
Leading up to UFC 132, Ryan Bader was a rising star supposedly on the verge of ending Tito Ortiz’s career.
Yes Jon Jones mopped the octagon with him, but the MMA world still understood that Bader knew how to fight at the pro level.
But after Ortiz shocked the world with a submission victory at the 1:56 mark in the first round, where does Ryan Bader stand now?
With back-to-back losses to Jon Jones and Ortiz, Bader’s stock is certainly declining. He allowed Ortiz to escape a nearly five-year winless streak and is now mired in a two-fight skid.
There’s no question he knows how to fight, but it’s no longer clear where Bader stands on the MMA light-heavyweight totem pole.
He’s obviously accomplished with 12 victories to his name, but he’s been submitted twice in a row and doesn’t have a ton of impressive victories outside of defeating a declining Keith Jardine. Is Ryan Bader a young fighter who hit a small snag thanks to inexperience? Was Bader hyped too quickly for his 12-1 record?
I think Bader is as advertised, he simply ran into a pair of tough situations in the past couple fights. Jones is clearly a force to be reckoned with as he defeated Mauricio Rua to win the Light Heavyweight Championship.
Although the Ortiz bout was Bader’s to lose, Tito was fighting for his MMA career and he caught Bader at the right time. So with that said, it’s too early to write Bader off as overrated. He’s still only 28 years old and has terrific pedigree with an impressive collegiate wrestling background. Darth Bader will rise again, but he needs a victory quickly.
Two borderline embarrassing losses in a row doesn’t sit well with the UFC and its fans. Bader needs to rebound quickly as a reminder of his ability in the octagon. So who should be next for Bader? The first name that pops out is former Ultimate Fighter contestant Matt Hamill.
Hamill defeated Ortiz handily in UFC 121 and if Bader could beat the 34-year-old Hamill he could regain credibility and prove that the Ortiz fight was a right place wrong time type of loss. Bader could struggle with Hamill’s superior wrestling, but this is certainly a winnable yet significant fight for Bader.
He’s on the decline after a pair of underwhelming fights, but it’s clear he knows how to fight on a professional level. Bader just needs a win, and fast, to regain the trust and support of those who were on his bandwagon when he was 12-0.
Anna Kournikova
Hayden Panettiere
Cameron Diaz
No comments:
Post a Comment