Nothing personal, Ryan Bader, but Matt Mitrione isn’t a fan of the “champ-champ” concept. Nor was he super into the idea of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in the first place.
Now, this could sound like simple bitterness, considering Bader earned a unanimous decision over Mitrione in the tournament semifinals, then went on to defeat Fedor Emelianenko in the tourney finals. That made Bader, who went entered the bracket as Bellator’s light heavyweight champ, also the heavyweight champ — the first simultaneous dual titleholder in Bellator’s decade-long history.
But Mitrione believes mixed martial arts’ glut of champion vs.