Ryan Bader Throws Shade At UFC’s Light Heavyweight Division

Ryan Bader throws some shade at the current state of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. He did so while promoting his upcoming fight against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. The two fighters are slated to meet in the finals of the Bellator heavyweight tournament at Bellator 214.

Bellator MMA has signed a ton of former UFC stars through the rush of free agency in 2017 and 2018. Bader made it clear that he’s not holding his breath for the next import of new talent signings if this trend continues this year. That remains to be seen.

In the eyes of Bader, he thinks that the UFC’s light heavyweight division is not very deep at all.

“I don’t feel the UFC’s light heavyweight division is very deep at all,” said Bader to MMAJunkie. “There’s a handful of guys they keep regurgitating to fight for the belt. There’s not too many to pull from there. Yeah, there’s always guys out there floating around, but I haven’t really thought about it too much. Bellator is doing a great job attracting these high-level guys, and that’s going to come with just a little bit of time.”

Bader continued by stating that he thinks the message to fighters has been sent loud and clear.

“The word’s getting out we’re treated well over here. To be able to have this (Bellator heavyweight) grand prix, and we saw Darrion Caldwell fight in Japan, and so that’s attractive to us.”

Bellator 214 is set to take place on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The preliminary card will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card will air on Paramount Network and DAZN at 9:00 PM EST.