Ryan Bader is quietly building his own legacy at heavyweight, but he’s not quite put together the resume where he could be considered among the best ever.
As it stands, Bader’s upcoming opponent Fedor Emelianenko is most commonly called the the greatest of all-time at heavyweight after putting together a ridiculous 28-fight, eight year unbeaten streak, which included his stint as a PRIDE champion.
Because this is a subjective question there’s no correct or wrong answer. However, Bader seems to think that Emelianenko has a record that puts him in front of all heavyweights. That said, the reigning Bellator heavyweight king believes the most talented fighter he’s ever seen compete in that division was a former college wrestling teammate whose career was sadly sidelined by numerous catastrophic injuries.
” I would choose Cain Velasquez (*) when he is healthy. But the problem is that Cain didn’t keep his health up for long enough and didn’t have as many fights and a resume like Fedor,” Bader explained to MMA Fighting. “I would say Cain could go out there and be the best heavyweight of all-time.
” If you were to give a name to someone, Fedor would be [the one]. He didn’t come over to the UFC but it’s not taking anything away from him. His legacy is still intact. He fought those guys [in Japan], beat a lot of those guys. If you put [on a fight] in their finest night, Fedor against Cain, then I would take Cain .”
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Despite long layoffs from injuries Velasquez managed to be a UFC champion twice with impressive victories over people like Junior dos Santos, Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Unfortunately, Velasquez’s body just couldn’t hold up as he continuously faced setbacks during his career and had to sit out for years at a time when he couldn’t compete.
Bader believes that Velasquez is almost unbeatable at his best, but during the rare times when he could stay healthy, the ex-Arizona State wrestler has proven it again and again.
“I think he’s one of the best of all-time,” Bader said. We were able to witness that in many of his fights. His injuries, it’s just part of the sport, but he was an animal. He always had that drive.”
While he’s not comparing himself to Velasquez or anybody else, Bader remains undefeated in his own career at heavyweight, with a perfect 5-0 record with one no contest through six fights. It’s obviously a smaller sample size, but Bader is far from done with his career.
Ahead of his upcoming fight on Saturday, Bader initially scoffed at running it back with Emelianenko because he just didn’t see how he could improve upon a 35-second knockout.
At second glance Bader saw that he had a unique opportunity to add an additional accolade to his resume by a rematch with the legend Russian fighter — which added an extra layer of intrigue and excitement to the fight.
“It was just one of these things. It’s not something I’m really interested in because I’m like, “What do I gain?” Bader said. It was a huge fight and it can be seen on CBS. Fedor is the winner.
” It’s an honor to have been a part of Fedor’s career twice. Obviously, too, there’s some upside — I could be the only guy that’s beaten Fedor twice.”
Emalianenko’s statement that this fight will be his last before retirement will probably draw more attention in the days ahead.
There’s an already a distinct aura surrounding Emelianenko when he fights. But the stakes in this fight will be higher, and Bader is not going to miss that.
In fact, Bader is honest enough to admit that he even stood in awe when facing Emelianenko the first time around, but he got over that rather quickly once the fight started. For the rematch, he expects to be just as confident.
“Even that first fight, I still had that, ‘Holy s***, that’s Fedor. Bader stated, “I’m going to fight Fedor.” They did the National Anthem and the Russian Anthem so it gave me time to reflect before I fought. It was slightly longer than normal. It was just another man, I kept saying to myself. It’s been against everyone. I’ve fought the who’s who of MMA. “I’ve stood alongside legends, up-and-comers, and everyone,” it doesn’t bother me anymore. Fedor, however, was that one guy who made me feel like, “Here we are!” It was surreal.
“I think being in there prior with him, that part has kind of worn off. I’ve been there. I’ve stood across from him before the fight and went in there and did my job. This fight, I think it’s going to be even less.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/31/23579180/ryan-bader-fedor-emelianenko-has-resume-of-greatest-heavyweight-all-time-but-cain-velasquez-was-best?rand=96749
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