Ryan Bader wants top contender for next UFC bout, hopes to move into Title contention

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Ryan Bader went through a rough stretch in the first half of 2011. The formerly undefeated winner of The Ultimate Fighter's eighth season came within a fight of contention when he was manhandled by Jon Jones and choked out in the second round. Then h was on the wrong end of a shocking first round submission by Tito Ortiz in July.

Those two straight losses had the one-time rising contender falling precipitously down the UFC's light heavyweight ladder, but he bounced back in a big way in the last half of the year. First up, Bader knocked out Jason Brilz in just over a minute, and that performance had the UFC coming to him with a fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Bader jumped at the opportunity, knowing a win would vault him right back into the upper echelon of the light heavyweight division.

"That's why we took this fight," Bader explained in an interview with MMAWeekly.com. "A lot of other people were turning it down and we got offered pretty much or were told about it right after the Brilz fight. We definitely wanted a fight that would put us in this kind of position and get back to where we were."

That's just what Bader did, pulling off the biggest win of his career by defeating Jackson by decision in Japan at UFC 144. Now, he's looking to face another top opponent in the division to keep his momentum going, and he hopes to prove himself as a title-worthy challenger in quick fashion.

"For me, I want to fight a guy that will keep me up to where I'm at right now, and get me closer to my ultimate goal which is for a title," Bader said. "That's the kind of guys I want to fight."

Penick's Analysis: It's been a great turnaround for Bader, and he's gotten himself right back into things after seriously dropping off the map after the Ortiz loss. The fight that makes the most sense right now is to have him face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua this summer. There's not another available contender for Rua, and even though he lost his last fight and Bader has won two straight, Rua is still a recent champion in the division and would be a huge fight for Bader still. I think the UFC will ultimately go this route for the two of them, simply because there aren't many other options open right now in the top end of the division outside of them fighting one another.

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