Bader: I belong at heavyweight, 205-pound grand prix was 'gravy'

Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader doesn't regret taking his recent light heavyweight fights, but he's glad to be back in the division he feels is right for him.

Bader, who once also held the Bellator light heavyweight title, is scheduled to face interim heavyweight champ Valentin Moldavsky in a title unification bout Saturday in the Bellator 273 main event. It'll be his first heavyweight bout since 2019.

Bader lost the 205-pound belt in August 2020. He then competed in that division's grand prix to try to become a two-division champion again.

However, his plan before agreeing to participate in that tournament was to return and permanently commit to heavyweight, where he was still the champion. That is once again his intent.

"I considered myself exclusively a heavyweight after that light heavyweight loss (to Vadim Nemkov), so everything at light heavyweight was just kind of fun, kind of gravy," Bader, who was eliminated in the tournament semifinals last October, told theScore. "But now, back to where I belong and where I plan on fighting out the rest of my career."

Bader, 38, said the weight cut to 205 pounds has gotten more difficult in recent years. He'll only return to that division if "something huge comes up."

"I do see that chapter closed for now," Bader said.

He added, "It's hard going from 205 to heavyweight. You have to have that weight on you at heavyweight, be strong, and then, obviously, you have to be able to cut that weight, too. I was always in limbo."

Most of Bader's 14-year career - which includes a 20-fight stint in the UFC and now nine bouts with Bellator - has taken place at light heavyweight. Bader only moved up to heavyweight in 2018 to compete in a Bellator grand prix, which he won a year later and therefore became champion.

Bader has spent more time at 205 pounds but believes he's a better heavyweight - it just took him years to find that out.

The best part about competing as a heavyweight, Bader said, is that he doesn't have to cut weight. He shows up on fight week and gets to focus on the matchup - not the 20 pounds of water he has to shed in the one or two days before weigh-ins.

But beyond that, Bader thinks his physical attributes work to his advantage. He has an edge in cardiovascular endurance and speed against most heavyweights, and that's not necessarily the case against the smaller fighters at 205 pounds.

"One thing that kind of deterred me in the past of fighting at heavyweight was, 'Alright, what happens if I run across these guys that are 250-plus?'" Bader said. "Matt Mitrione - who I fought in 2018 - was that guy, and I felt awesome in there. I felt just as strong, if not stronger, my cardio felt like it was better than these heavyweights, I could see everything, I felt faster.

"That kind of was a tipping point where I said, 'OK, I can do this heavyweight thing for sure.'"

In a relatively rare scenario, Bader enters Saturday's title defense coming off a loss. But that first-round TKO defeat to Corey Anderson occurred in a different division than the one in which he's fighting Modalvsky, so nothing about this fight feels strange.

"I was off in a different weight class, basically," Bader said. "And now I come back, I'm undefeated at heavyweight, have the belt, and now it's time to go out there and show everybody what I can do at that weight."