(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
On December 13, 2008, Ryan Bader defeated Vinicius Magalhães to win a UFC contract and the title of The Ultimate Fighter's light heavyweight championship.
On April 1, at Ultimate Fight Night 18 aired on Spike TV, Bader will take his 8-0 MMA record into the octagon against Carmelo Marrero. It is Bader’s first fight since coming off the reality TV show and is all part of his five year plan to ascend the light heavyweight division and one day be champion.
I had the chance to speak this Ryan this week and got his thoughts on a number of issues. The full interview is below.
Your upcoming opponent Carmelo Marrero beat your training partner Steve Steinbeiss, in their most recent fight, by a close split decision. What did you learn about Marrero in that fight and what will you utilize to ensure a victory for yourself?
I got to watch that fight, I was in the stands live. I got to hear firsthand what Steve said about Carmelo and I have watched video on him. He has good wrestling and is always in good condition. I feel I have better wrestling so that will put the pressure on him. I have better standup too. I won’t be going into the fight with a specific game plan though; I am going to let this fight go where it needs to go. I see him ending up on his back though. When a wrestler is on his back he is in a different world. From there, the ground and pound can take over. Its one of those fights where I can utilize everything that I have been learning as a fighter.
You are pretty solid at 205 pounds. I heard you walk around at 225 pounds. Would you ever pull an “Anderson Silva” and cut down to 185 pounds if that was the best road to title shot or are you committed to light heavyweight for the next 2-3 years?
Yeah that’s about right. I am pretty solid at 225. I gained a lot weight from weight lighting. I am used to cutting weight and I have done it my whole life in wrestling. As far as cutting down to 185, I am pretty set at light heavyweight. In college I cut to 197 pounds and that was pretty brutal so I couldn’t see myself getting down to 185 at all.
You were the first Light Heavyweight selected by Coach Nogueira. One would have to imagine it was priceless experience training with a legend like Noguiera. What is your relationship like with him like now that the show is over?
It was awesome working with Nogueira, watching him work and hearing what he has to say about the sport. We have gotten to continue our relationship since the show. We were actually in the same locker room at UFC 92 when I was cornering for C.B. Dollaway and we got to talk for awhile. Its one of those things where I can call him up and he will have us come down and set us up at his place so. He is an awesome training partner and just an awesome guy in general. I cant say enough good things about the guy.
You have a great team at Arizona Combat Sports, training with guys like C.B Dollaway, Jaime Varner, and Matt Riddle. Can you tell us more about the environment at ACS and what makes training there such a good fit for you?
We started as a bunch of wrestlers from Arizona State University and they turned us into MMA fighters so it’s a perfect fit for us. The guys in the gym are tight knit. Everyone is there for each other. Its not one of those deals when you’re done training for your fight and then you take off for a couple months. I might take a week off after my fight and then I am right back in the gym helping whoever has an upcoming fight. C.B. Dollaway has a fight coming up at UFC 100 I will be there for that. Were there to look after each other and we’ve been successful with that so far.
What has the addition of Carlos Condit brought to the training camp?
Carlos is a very intense dude and that really transfers over to training. He is always going at 100 miles per hour and when you start sparring with him you know you’re in for a fight no matter what. He brings the whole MMA game, especially with his knees and elbows so I love training with him. He is a great guy who fit right in and his work ethic is second to none so it’s great to be able to feed off his energy level. It’s been great to have him there.
How do you think Condit will fit into the welterweight division with studs like George St. Pierre and Thiago Alves?
Oh yeah for sure. Watching him train, I didn’t know before that. I’d seen a few of his fights and knew he was a great fighter. If you would have asked that question awhile back I wouldn’t have been 100% sure. But watching him train, he goes against the top guys in our gym. He picks up stuff so quickly too, I have no doubt he'll be a top contender right away. He is going to come in and win the fight with Kampmann and be right in the mix.
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