{"id":262876,"date":"2017-11-02T08:10:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T15:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=262876"},"modified":"2017-11-02T08:10:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T15:10:49","slug":"bellator-light-heavyweight-champ-ryan-bader-wants-heavyweight-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ryan-bader\/bellator-light-heavyweight-champ-ryan-bader-wants-heavyweight-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader wants in on heavyweight tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow night, in the main event of the exciting Bellator 186 card, Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader will attempt to defend his title opposite the dangerous Linton Vassell. While this test is at the forefront of the champ’s mind, he’s also interested in partaking in a much-discussed Bellator heavyweight title tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would definitely like to throw my hat in the ring with that and see where it goes,\u201d Bader told MMAjunkie<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing that intrigued me about coming to Bellator was those different opportunities<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, I\u2019m the light heavyweight champion, and I need to defend that belt,” he continued. “That\u2019s happening on Friday, and from there, we\u2019ll see what transpires.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be in that tournament and fight a couple of fights quickly, and if there is a belt at the end of that, that would be awesome to be a two-division champ and come back and defend my light heavyweight title,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you\u2019re looking in the future a little bit. I\u2019ve got to go out and win this fight, and really just see what\u2019s next with them. But I\u2019m open to all that.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While nothing is official just yet, Bellator president Scott Coker has recently discussed a possible heavyweight tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think that we\u2019ll probably crown a new champion first quarter of next year and then we\u2019ll start having a lot more fights in the heavyweight division,\u201d Coker said on a recent episode of\u00a0<\/span>The MMA Hour<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some great heavyweights now, there\u2019s a lot of matchups that I can\u2019t wait to see and I\u2019m excited about 2018. I think 2018 is going to be a very busy year, a big growth year for Bellator, and the heavyweight division will be a big part of it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How do you think Ryan Bader would fair against monsters like Matt Mitrione, Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo and Fedor Emelianenko?<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 2\/11\/2017. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow night, in the main event of the exciting Bellator 186 card, Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader will attempt to defend his title opposite the dangerous Linton Vassell. While this test is at the forefront of the champ’s mind, he’s also interested in partaking in a much-discussed Bellator heavyweight title tournament. \u201cI would definitely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":169419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10125],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader wants in on heavyweight tournament | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ryan-bader\/bellator-light-heavyweight-champ-ryan-bader-wants-heavyweight-tournament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader wants in on heavyweight tournament | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tomorrow night, in the main event of the exciting Bellator 186 card, Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader will attempt to defend his title opposite the dangerous Linton Vassell. 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