The UFC has now had three “Champ Champs” in its history. Conor McGregor started the trend in 2016. Followed by Daniel Cormier last year, and now Amanda Nunes. However, tomorrow (Sat. January 26, 2019) Bellator MMA has the opportunity to have their first-ever “Champ Champ.” That being Ryan Bader, who currently holds Bellator’s light heavyweight championship. He’ll face Fedor Emelianenko in the main event of Bellator 214.
The show goes down from The Forum in Inglewood, California. Bader and Fedor will be competing for the vacant heavyweight championship. Both men earned their opportunity into this fight by making their way through the Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament. Should Bader be able to pull off the victory over one of the sports greatest heavyweights of all time, he’ll solidify himself in the Bellator history books.
Bellator President Scott Coker spoke on this during a recent media scrum. In regards to Bader possibly becoming Bellator’s first-ever “Champ Champ,” Coker believes it’s possible for Bader to defend both belts (via MMA Junkie):
“I think he said he would like to (defend both belts). I think we would do both as long as it made sense. Sometimes titles get jammed up, and there’s a group of fighters underneath waiting, but as long as that didn’t happen, we would probably let him fight in both weight classes.”
What do you think about Bader possibly being Bellator’s first-ever “Champ Champ”?
