Ryan Bader: 'I'm Not Going To Put Fedor on a Pedestal'

The Bellator MMA Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament concludes on Jan. 26 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader will meet former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the final.

“The Last Emperor” is arguably the greatest heavyweight of all-time, going undefeated from 2001 to 2009. Emelianenko’s undefeated streak eventually came to an end when he lost to Fabricio Werdum back in 2010, which started a three-fight losing streak that led many fight fans to question if the former champion’s days were numbered. However, Emelianenko bounced back and is currently riding a two fight winning streak.

Bader, on the other hand, didn’t make his professional MMA debut until 2007, by which time Emelianenko was already the Pride champion and consensus best heavyweight in the world.

The 35-year-old has shared the cage with some of the biggest MMA stars on the planet including former UFC champions Jon Jones, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans. “Darth” said in a recent interview with MMA Junkie that while Emelianenko is someone he’s looked up to in the past, come fight night he won’t let the occasion and his opponent awe him.

“I’m past that now,” Bader said. “I stood across the cage from everybody. So that doesn’t get me now.”

“I think he gets just as anxious and nervous and all that like the rest of us, and I could see that,” Bader said. “For me, it’s just – I’m not going to put him on a pedestal. I’m going to go out and do what I do. I’m coming out as the champ, as ‘I’m going to go out there and beat him.’

“I’m the best in the world,” Bader added. “That’s my mentality. The mystique and all that about it, it’s going to be gone. It’s very cool when I can look back later at it. But right now I’ve just go to see him as just another man.”