Ryan
Bader admittedly wasn’t initially excited about the prospects
of a rematch with Fedor
Emelianenko.
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It didn’t take him too long to come around.
“At first I kind of felt that way, and then I started thinking
about it,” Bader said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Being on
CBS was a big factor. Anytime you’re in a Fedor fight it’s a huge
fight. I’m proud to be a part of his legacy and for him to be a
part of mine.
“It’s hard to turn down a Fedor fight. I didn’t necessarily know it
was going to be his last one. It’s one of those things where I got
more excited about it and when I finally put pen to paper, I was
all in.”
Bader initially faced Emelianenko in the finals of the heavyweight
grand prix at Bellator 214, where he claimed the belt with a
35-second technical knockout victory. The Power MMA Team stalwart
isn’t taking away much from that first meeting — in large part
because of the abbreviated nature of the fight. He expects the
rematch, which is set for the Bellator 290 headliner on Saturday,
will be a completely different affair.
“There’s a few things [I can take away]. Thirty-five seconds
there’s one punch thrown — you can’t take much,” he said. “This is
a whole new fight. Every fight I go out there thinking I’m fighting
25 minutes, that my opponent’s the best he’s ever been. I’m
not resting on what happened last fight. I can’t bring that fight
into this fight.”
When Bader initially captured the heavyweight crown, he was a
simultaneous two-division champion in Bellator. He has sinced
relinquished the light heavyweight strap and will be attempting to
make his third successful title defense at heavyweight. With that
said, the majority of the attention heading into the card has gone
to Emelianenko, who will retire after the bout — win or lose. While
Bader is still working on carving out his own legacy, he believes
his Russian foe has earned the acclaim.
“He deserves it. He’s a legend of the sport. I respect that man and
what he’s done for the sport,” Bader said. “Don’t get me wrong, I
know walking in there I’d be doing the same if I’m watching Fedor’s
last fight — I’m cheering for him. I like to do that. I like to see
those legends go out on top.
“Make no mistake, I know people are going to be rooting for him. On
the flip side, I have a job to do and my job is to spoil that
party, retain that belt, win that fight and move on. There will be
respect there no matter what.”
With all the hoopla surrounding Emelianenko’s swan song, Bader is
aware that “The Last Emperor” will be a strong sentimental favorite
come Saturday night. He gets it. But that won’t prevent him from
doing everything in his power to complete his own objective.
“Me going out there and doing my job and winning, I’m the bad guy,”
he said. “You want to see those guys go out on a win. But I’m in
that position. What am I gonna do, go in there and fold up for him?
I’m going to do my job. I’ve got a job to do at the end of the
day.”