Ryan Bader Defeats Fedor to Become Bellator HW Champ

One of the greatest fighters in the history of mixed martial arts is Fedor Emelianenko. He is considered to be the best heavyweight fighter who has ever competed in the sport. Some experts have even gone so far as to say that he is the best mixed martial fighter in any weight class. However, the Russian is nearing the end of a brilliant career. He was knocked out by Ryan Bader in the final round of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. The tournament featured eight men. Fedor had defeated Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen to earn a spot against Bader for the undisputed heavyweight title. However, Bader landed a punch with his left hand that sent Fedor to the canvas. Bader followed up with another shot and the referee jumped in and stopped the fight. The official time of the fight was 36 seconds.

It was a shocking loss for Fedor. He had never been beaten so easily before. He had suffered other stoppage losses in recent years. However, this was by far the fastest. What makes the loss even more surprising is that Bader usually competes at light heavyweight. Therefore, Bader does not have the power of the men that Fedor usually faces. Bader is also not known as a guy with KO power. His strength is his wrestling. This is a fact that he certainly would not debate with you.

Bader now holds both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in Bellator. He is the first fighter to be a champ in two weight classes at the same time in the Bellator promotion. It is not known which title he will defend in his next fight. There are many people who are assuming that this will be the last fight for Fedor. Things usually do not go well for fighters who stay in the sport past their 40th birthday. However, Fedor has not given any indication as to what his future plans are.

Fedor has a period of 10 years in his career when he did not lose a single fight. This is an accomplishment that will most likely never happen again. Most of these wins were in the Japanese promotion called Pride. There have been accusations that some of the fights in Pride were fixed. However, that has never been proven. Fedor has nothing left to accomplish in the sport. This loss does nothing to damage his overall legacy.