Ryan Bader

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 The Ultimate Fighter
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Ryan "Darth" Bader (born June 7, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist and a former two-time D-1 All American wrestler.

He stands 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) tall and fights in the light heavyweight division. He made it to the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir and currently fights as a light heavyweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Ryan Bader made his professional mixed martial arts debut on the March 31, 2001 for the WFC promotion. He faced Dave Covello who he defeated by submission due to strikes at 2.21 of round 1.

Bader fought five more times in 2007, with all but one of his fights making it out of the second round. During that time he fought in such organizations as King of the Cage and the IFO.

In April of 2008, Bader defeated Buckley Acosta via first round choke submission to improve his record to an unblemished 7-0.

The Ultimate Fighter

In early 2008, Bader was selected as a contestant for the 8th season of The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.

In the first round of the 16 man light heavyweight tournament that made up half this season of TUF, Bader faced friend, Kyle Kingsbury. Kingsbury caught Bader with some good shots in the first round as the bout remained primarily standing. In the second round, Bader switched things up and scored a double leg takedown before eventually tapping Kingsbury out with an arm triangle choke.

Bader was the first light heavyweight chosen by Team Nogueira and also fought in the first light heavyweight bout since going to the house. Bader faced Tom Lawlor, a fellow wrestler, who he knocked out in the first round.

In Episode 11, Bader faced Eliot Marshall in the light heavyweight semi finals. Marshall had called out Bader after his quarter final victory. After three uneventful rounds which consisted mainly of Bader top control, "Darth" was awarded a unanimous decision victory and a place in the final.

On December 13, 2008, Bader will face off against Vinny Magalhaes at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale, to crown TUF 8 light heavyweight tournament champion.