A run to the title feels likely, as does the potential for a superfight down the line against current featherweight champion AJ McKee. At just 23, Nurmagomedov is still figuring out how great he can be, which is scary. Although he's more aggressive on his feet than his familial namesake, he's nearly as dominant on the ground. Nurmagomedov (14-0) made a memorable debut with the promotion in 2021 by sweeping a trio of fights, including two by stoppage wins. It won't be long until the cousin and teammate of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has the Bellator MMA lightweight division on lockdown. Assuming Vanderford can survive a few dangerous spots on the feet, he can control the fight by forcing Mousasi into some rough wrestling exchanges to emerge as the new king of 185 pounds.
While Mousasi has looked very good in the Bellator cage, Vanderford has been very strong in building an 11-0 record. Vanderford is the younger fighter both in terms of actual age and "cage age." Mousasi has a ton of miles on his body with 57 career fights. 25 when he faces Austin Vanderford in Dublin. While Bader seems a very real possibility, I feel there's a stronger likelihood that Gegard Mousasi drops the middleweight championship on Feb. The 29-year-old from Russia has won all six of his bouts since making his Bellator MMA debut in 2017 and would be wise to test the chin of Bader early. Moldavsky, who is trained by Fedor Emelianenko, might just prove to be the wrong streaking fighter at the wrong time for Bader. 29 to face interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky in their unification bout headlining Bellator 273 in Phoenix. But he also still holds the title in a division where age isn't much of a concern for the 38-year old.
Bader, the former two-division king has been stopped twice over the past 17 months against light heavyweights Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson. It's hard to tell entering 2022 whether the rest of the field has caught up with defending heavyweight champion Ryan Bader or whether it's simply the elite core of the 205-pound division. Which champion will be the first to fall?īrian Campbell, Shakiel Mahjouri: Ryan Bader
0 kommentar(er)
