Ryan Bader suffered his first loss in Bellator MMA!
In a huge shocker, the two-division champ dropped the Bellator Light Heavyweight World title to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244. The 37-year-old hasn’t lost a bout since his UFC match-up against Anthony Johnson back in 2016.
Bader was outclassed thanks Nemkov’s speed and the challenger managed to get some good strikes in on the first round. It was clear that Bader lost the first round as the then Light Heavyweight World Champion opted to abandon his wrestling skills and decided to try and strike with Nemkov.
Bader was quickly in trouble in the second round thanks to a right hand from Vadim and then a big head kick had the fighter falling to the mat. Nemkov finished him off with hard punches until the referee finally called the fight around the 3:02 mark.
In the co-main event, Julia Budd got back into the win column thanks to her victory over Jessy Miele. The former Bellator Featherweight Champion fought a very tough opponent in the three-round match-up as Miele’s striking got the better of Budd in the early rounds; however, Budd used her wrestling skills to bounce back and clinch the win.
Check out the full results of Bellator 244 below:
Vadim Nemkov def. Ryan Bader via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:02
Julia Budd def. Jessy Miele via unanimous decision
Valentin Moldavsky def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision
John Salter def. Andrew Kapel via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 3, 3:11
Yaroslav Amosov def. Mark Lemminger via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) - Round 1, 5:00
Sidney Outlaw def. Adam Piccolotti via split decision
Joshua Hill def. Erik Perez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Weber Almeida def. Salim Mukhidinov via KO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:57
John de Jesus def. Vladyslav Parubchenko via unanimous decision
Chris Gonzalez def. Vladimir Tokov via split decision
Lucas Brennan def. Will Smith via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:14