Ryan Bader believes Muhammed Lawal is off-base with his latest claims.
Bader and “King Mo” will compete this Saturday night (May 12) in a Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix match-up. The winner will advance to the semi-finals to meet Matt Mitrione. The bout is set to headline Bellator 199, which will be held inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Lawal recently had something interesting to say regarding Bader’s fighting future. The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion claimed that “Darth” doesn’t want to compete anymore and would rather collect a paycheck. The timing of the comment is interesting because Bader is the reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion and appears to be on top of his game.
Bader dished out a response to MMAJunkie.com:
“It’s just funny him saying that: Where does that come from? I think that comes from his own self. His doubts, his insecurities. I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what I can do. I’m in my prime. I’m a young 34 years old. My body has never felt better, where he has a hard time making it to the fights. We were supposed to fight before, and he pulled out nine weeks prior to that fight, and then he hasn’t fought in over a year.”
In his last four outings, Bader has been victorious. In that span he’s beaten Ilir Latifi, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Phil Davis, and Linton Vassell. Three of those victories were finishes. The win against Davis saw Bader capture gold for the first time in his career.
Lawal has gone 2-2 in his last four outings. Prior to his unanimous decision loss to Davis, “King Mo” was riding a seven-fight winning streak. The other loss was to Mirko Cro Cop via TKO.
Do you think Muhammed Lawal’s argument on the fighting future of Ryan Bader is legitimate or baseless?
