UFC Light heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Cormier gave his prediction and support for Ryan Bader to win the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. The two have had their differences in the past but that is behind them now according to what Bader said at the post-fight press conference when he addressed the media about facing Bellator 208 semi-final winner, Fedor Emelianenko.
Cormier took to Twitter after the event to let fans know his prediction on a fight between Emelianenko and Bader.
“I love Fedor, but he gets taken down by Bader and he doesn’t get up.” –Daniel Cormier
Being the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner himself, Cormier certainly has some insight to how tournaments like the one Bellator is finishing up in January are won. Bader’s wrestling, much like Cormier’s has been the key to victory in many of their fights and being the youngest man in the tournament does not hurt either.
No doubt in my mind that @ryanbader wins this tournament. I love Fedor, but he gets taken down by Bader and he doesn’t get up. And he can’t get tired and be so reckless. Gonna be fun to watch.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 14, 2018
Cormier seems to have noticed some fatigue in Emelianenko’s performance on Saturday night when he beat Chael Sonnen to advance in the tournament. Sonnen even commented in the post-fight press conference that he believes some of the things he did right in the fight may have given Bader a “blueprint” on how to beat the legendary Russian heavyweight. Bader seemed to agree as he thought had the fight gone on, things could have gone in favor of Sonnen.
Bader also said he feels good at heavyweight and being the youngest man in the tournament certainly helps him against Emelianenko. If his match against Matt Mitrione showed anything the night before at Bellator 207, it made clear that Bader’s wrestling is certainly strong enough to control the other heavyweights as he did against Mitrione. His wrestling earned him a unanimous decision victory and he made sure he was cage side at Bellator 208 so he could face off against the other half of the upcoming title fight.
Do you agree with Daniel Cormier’s prediction?
