When Ryan Bader hit the UFC back in 2008, he was a hot prospect. Fresh off the Ultimate Fighter with a ‘six figure’ contract - back when both of those statuses felt like they really meant something - he rolled out to a 12-0 unbeaten record, with five straight victories to start his run in the Octagon.
Then Bader hit a rough patch. Back-to-back losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz didn’t begin any kind of real slide in the Power MMA fighter’s career — he still won eight of next eleven fights. But, they did seem to put ‘Darth’ on track to be forever a bridesmaid in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.