At the site of one of the most decorated wrestling programs in the country, Ryan Bader made use of that discipline to record his first Bellator title defense.
Bader (24-5) left no doubt that he is the top light heavyweight in Bellator, using a wrestling-heavy attack to neutralize Linton Vassell (19-6). He then finished him with ground-and-pound in the second round of the championship main event of Bellator 186 on Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus in University Park, Penn.
From the outset, it was clear that Bader’s plan was to take Vassell down and he was able to do so early in the opening round.