Ryan Bader hopes Fedor Emelianenko emerges victorious tonight (Oct. 13).
Emelianenko will go one-on-one with Chael Sonnen inside the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. The winner will move on to the finals in the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix to face Bader. “Darth” earned his spot in the finals with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Matt Mitrione.
Ryan Bader Hopes He Meets Fedor Emelianenko In Finals
Following his victory over Mitrione, Bader explained to reporters why he’d prefer to clash with “The Last Emperor” (via MMAJunkie.com):
“If I’m picking for the whole mystique and nostalgia of it, I’m picking Fedor. To win the heavyweight grand prix, the title, to be a two-division champion, and doing it being Fedor? It doesn’t get any bigger than that. That being said, they’re so different. Chael, I know what I’m going to get with Chael. With Fedor, he has that mystique. You never know what he’s going to do in there. He throws bombs. He’s great on the ground. If I had my choice, though, it would be Fedor.”
The co-main event of Bellator 208 will feature a lightweight clash between former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title holder Benson Henderson and Saad Awad. Also set for the main card is a heavyweight tilt between Cheick Kongo and Timothy Johnson. Former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will go one-on-one with Anatoly Tokov. The main card will begin with featherweight action as Henry Corrales and Andy Main do battle.
Who do you think Ryan Bader will meet in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix?
