Bellator dual champion Ryan Bader’s first loss came against current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, and it’s a fight he’d love to get back.
Both undefeated at the time, “The Ultimate Fighter” winner Bader (27-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) was matched up with Jones in 2011 at UFC 126 in a battle of light heavyweight prospects.
Jones submitted Bader in the second round, earning a shot at the UFC 205-pound title, which he captured with a dominant performance over “Shogun” Rua to become the youngest champion in UFC history.
It’s a fight that sent both men in completely different directions at the time, but since signing with Bellator in 2017, Bader has captured two titles simultaneously. Bader has no plans of leaving Bellator and understands that a fight with Jones could only happen in a cross-promotional format, something that Bellator has done before but the UFC isn’t so willing to do.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think you can argue that he’s not (the best),” Bader told TMZ of Jones. “He’s undefeated. Yeah, he took a DQ loss or whatever, but he’s undefeated. He’s beaten everybody. That’s one fight I’d love to get back. It was 2011 when that happened, and I’ve grown and changed so much since then physically, mentally, and we’d love to be able to do some cross-promotion deal.
“It’s not something sitting at the top of my mind, but it’s one of those things if the opportunity ever presented itself, you’re damn right.”
