UFC 132: Does Ryan Bader Gain Anything from a Win over Tito Ortiz?

Tito Ortiz will be fighting for his job at UFC 132.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy has not won a fight in the UFC since 2006 and he has gone on record saying that he practically had to beg Dana White to give him one more chance to prove himself.

White gave Ortiz that chance in the form of a fight with Ryan Bader.

The stakes for Tito are obvious.

If he loses to Bader, he will be cut from the UFC.

If he beats Ryan Bader, he will prove that he is still a relevant factor in MMA and keep his job.

What's not as obvious is what Bader stands to gain or lose in this fight.

Ryan is in a tight spot because he is expected to win this fight. Everyone believes that Tito is washed up and Bader is a rising star in the light heavyweight division.

Taking a fight you are expected to win is always risky for that exact reason -- you are expected to win.

If Ryan loses to Ortiz, it will be devastating for him; it never looks good when you lose to a guy who hasn't won in five years.

On the flip side, if Bader defeats Ortiz does his stock really go up that much?

Right now, most people believe that Tito would lose in a fight with a gentle breeze. So, coming off of a huge loss to Jon Jones, The Huntington Beach Bad Boy was not the optimum opponent for Darth Bader.

Ryan is only 28 years old, so he can afford a fight that doesn't necessarily advance him; he has a lot of time left in his career.

However, in the future it might do Bader well to be a touch more careful deciding what fights to take.

In a stacked division like light heavyweight, you want to be taking fights that are going to move you forward and a victory over Ortiz is not going to move Bader forward, at least not enough to make the fight worth while.