Ryan Bader knows Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, but he believes Emelianenko’s opponents generally give him too much respect in the cage.
And that is something he plans on avoiding when he meets Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator heavyweight title in the Bellator 214 main event on Saturday. The fight, which takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California, is the final of the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix.
“If you look back in the Chael fight, we didn’t get to see too much, he looked great. He’s unpredictable and a little bit of that is people respect him too much,” Bader told MMAWeekly.