Ryan Bader’s coach believes his fighter has the formula to defeat Fedor Emelianenko.
Bader will be taking on Emelianenko in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. The winner will be rewarded with the Bellator heavyweight championship. It all goes down on Jan. 26 inside The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Ryan Bader’s Coach Talks Path To Victory
Bader’s coach Jair Lourenco spoke to MMAFighting.com ahead of the showdown. He said that the pressure of Bader could be the key to success:
”It’s going to be a fight between true champions. They are both experienced fighters. Many people talks about Bader being younger and all that, like he’s in his 20’s, but he’s 35. The thing is, he’s an athlete and takes care of himself. They both hit hard and have high-level grappling. It’s going to be a high-level fight and, the longer it takes, the better for Bader because of his conditioning. He does well in five-round fights.
”We’re planning on putting pressure early on to force Fedor to work at a higher pace since the beginning. We will fight to submit him or knock him out, attacking the entire time, full pressure, for five rounds. I think that’s the path. You can’t let Fedor be too comfortable in the fight.”
Bader got to the finals by knocking out Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in a matter of seconds, then going on to dominate Matt Mitrione via unanimous decision. As for Fedor, he scored finishes over Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen to reach the finals.
Can Fedor Emelianenko’s sambo, counter the wrestling of Ryan Bader?
