Even with all eyes on his opponent, Ryan Bader knows he has a job to do in the Bellator 290.
Bader faces Fedor Emelianenko for the second time in Saturday’s main event in Inglewood, Calif. Like their first meeting, Bader wins via first-round knockout . The victory marked Bader’s third consecutive successful defense of the heavyweight title and was the final fight of Emelianenko’s illustrious career. Like the anticipation of having to beat one of the greatest fighters of all time again.
“It’s not necessarily a bad guy,” Budd said in the evening’s postgame news conference. “It’s like putting pressure on you because you deserve to win, you did it in 35 seconds (in the first game), he’s ‘so old’, stuff like that. But I know how dangerous he is, he Also throwing a punch at me there, that tough right hand, it would knock anyone out. So I think the biggest part of it is the pressure that you should go out there and beat him outright. Luckily, I did, so I Head down and say, I’m just going to do my job, what I do every time, don’t worry about anything else.
“Walk in, it’s his last A fight, not a crowd that supports Bader. “
Once the bell rang, the action shifted quickly in Balder’s favor. He was too fast for the venerable Emelianenko. “The Last Emperor” A bunch of memorable endings on the résumé, but Bud beat him as easily as they did the first time they fought.
“We were obviously waiting That right hand,” Budd said. “It’s tricky, and that’s the most important thing I’ve done in training camp, just keep him guessing. His last two fights, he’s playing guys, bigger guys, slower guys, and they’re standing in front of him. So I want to move, I want to keep him alert so he can’t plant and throw. When he threw two or three right hands, they were hard, but I saw it. I saw everything in it, I saw when he was going to throw it. That’s what I learned from my first fight. You see the video, I was trying to find the line where he was going to blitz me, throw the right hand and hook and all that stuff, and I did find that line and hit him with the hook.
“So I brought it into this fight knowing that if I crossed that line, I was either thrown out or I was looking for a knockout or I’ I’m shaking my head or not.”
Bader now holds a unique place in MMA history as the only man who can beat the legendary Emelianenko twice Has been unbeaten in 28 consecutive games. Emelianenko is one of the brightest stars in the history of the legendary PRIDE promotion and is a fixture in any discussion of the best fighter of all time.
Like many of his peers, Bader adores Emelianenko, although he cannot pinpoint a particular moment that stands out to him at the moment, Except now standing directly opposite Emelianenko many times now.
“Not really a fight, I just remember him getting punched by Landman and coming back,” Budd said. “He was always so stoic and all that. You never read him. You go in and he’s stoic and expressionless. You talk to him and he’s a really nice guy, respectful, but yeah, I show up , he’s one of my favorite fighters.
“Looking back on my career, being able to get in that cage and share it with him twice is very special. “
Bader had the pleasure of hanging out after Saturday’s win, enjoying a celebration of MMA legends and pioneers including Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell and many other big names who haven’t lost sight of the excitement.
“So cool, especially on this CBS Huge platform,” Budd said. “It was very surreal to see all these people in a cage, and just be a part of it, and when it was over, walk up to Fedor and talk to him for a while. Bittersweet. He’s a legend, he’s definitely one of my favorite fighters, but I have a job to do and that’s what I do. At the end of the day, it’s a cool way for him to get out. They do a really good job of it. “
