Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2020 (edited) He wasn’t on the way down no. I don’t even think they cut him, sure his contract ended and they agreed to part ways. My point was just that the UFC didn’t exactly fight to keep him. I’m not saying he’s a bad fighter. I just think people are being overly generous because he’s Bellator’s top boy now. But you look at the run he’s on... Knocked out Fedor. Beat Mitrione on points. Stopped King Mo. Stopped Linton Vassell. Split decision over Phil Davis in a total snorefest. It’s not a bad run and his own performances have been good. But let’s be honest, look at that resume of his run in Bellator and someone like Derrick Lewis could’ve realistically done the same. A KO win over Fedor sadly means little these days. Same with Mo. He’s was well on the way out by the time he fought Bader. Of that lot, Meathead and Vassell are probably the best wins. And Meathead has never been anything special. I just think he’s benefitting from where he is. I honestly don’t think he’d really be any higher up if he was in the UFC now than the last time he was there. At Heavyweight or 205. I don’t see any massive improvement in his actual game. He’s just fighting guys who are on the way out or guys who were never all that to begin with, in a promotion that wants to promote him. That might be the real key here. Bellator put him in main events and big him up and I think he’s looked at differently because of that. The UFC just wacked him on cards until they didn’t have to anymore contractually. Coker sees him as an asset, Dana saw him as a guy they had to pay until they could figure out a way to fuck him off. Or let his contract expire. Edited August 9, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 9, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2020 I dont disagree with anything you say there per se, but we'll never actually know because Bellator's 205lb division is weak and it likely could make made Bader appear better than he may be, but we just dont know. Like I said though, the Nemkov fight will be a solid indicator because Nemkov looks legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2020 Yeah I like the Nemkov fight. He suffers from the same thing where we don’t really know how good he is but he looks legit, he’s young, he’s in form etc. He’s not a beat up legend like Fedor or a mid-level at best chubster like Mitrione. It’s an interesting fight for both. Whoever wins, it’ll be the best win of their Bellator stint easy for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2020 Looking at Bader's record, it seems like he's got a bit of a who's who in terms of wins, with the odd caveat that the vast majority are guys past their prime. Apart from the two Davis wins and Ilir Latifi, the only other win I can see that I might think "that's actually quite a good scalp to have taken" is Lil Nog back in 2010. He's beaten Jardine, Rampage, Rashad, and King Mo, but all at stages when they were long past their best. I guess the Meathead win was something, given the run Mitrione was on, but the only other notable thing he seems to have done is beaten a bum like Vinny Magalhaes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 While Bader's opposition in recent years has been average at best, you can still see that he has improved. He's now dangerous with both hands and doesn't make the same dopey mistakes that cost him victories in the UFC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) Quote Ryan Bader (27-5, 1 NC) vs. Vadim Nemkov (11-2) Julia Budd (13-3) vs. Jessy Miele (9-3) Roy Nelson (23-19) vs. Valentin Moldavsky (9-1)  John Salter (17-4) vs. Andrew Kapel (15-6) Main card for next week's show. I assume Amosov vs Fitch fell through. Moldavsky is a decent prospect and Salter is one of Bellator's best middleweights, but it's still a bit of a 1 fight card. Edited August 13, 2020 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 13, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 13, 2020 i like the 4 fight cards, they fly by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 4 hours ago, Egg Shen said: i like the 4 fight cards, they fly by. Agreed, they do tend to fly by but I have noticed that when one of the fights ends early they end up spending an enormous amount of time at the punditry box waffling on and doing the analysis and killing time. I've learnt to fast forward now but I didn't use to as if it was the UFC I would never dream of skipping the analyse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 14, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2020 best news ive heard all week: Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Corey Anderson claims that Bellator's new TV deal begins in mid-September. Could that be when they debut on Showtime? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 17, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 17, 2020 Has to be. They are sharing an arena with Showtime Boxing at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Yaroslav Amosov vs. Mark Lemminger has been added to the prelims for this weekend's card. I would have much rather had Amosov on the main card than Budd or Salter's fights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted August 17, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 17, 2020 I just can't believe they haven't pulled the plug on the October 3rd Dublin show yet. I've been speaking to a couple of fighters and they've said "Nope. If it's even in Dublin, it'll be closed doors" yet Coker is talking about trying to work around distancing etc. I paid over a poxy grand for the usual smug seats for meself, me wee lad and me nephew. Could do with that money back at this stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Scott Malbranque said: I just can't believe they haven't pulled the plug on the October 3rd Dublin show yet. I've been speaking to a couple of fighters and they've said "Nope. If it's even in Dublin, it'll be closed doors" yet Coker is talking about trying to work around distancing etc. I paid over a poxy grand for the usual smug seats for meself, me wee lad and me nephew. Could do with that money back at this stage. I get the impression that Coker makes decisions, but then for various reasons doesn't announce them until weeks later. For example, he has booked fights weeks, sometimes months, in advance then not announced then until fight week. Fuck knows what is going on with the Dublin show though. Fingers crossed you get your money back soon. Edited August 17, 2020 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SBD Posted August 18, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 18, 2020 This Fridays show is on Sky Sports Mix too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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