Bellator MMA light-heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has proven he can hang with some of the top big men in mixed martial arts.
Bader handily defeated Matt Mitrione in the main event of Bellator 207 Friday night to advance to the final of the organization’s ongoing Heavyweight World Grand Prix.
The three-round bout was dominated by Bader, who outwrestled Mitrione en route to a unanimous decision in which the scorecards read 30-25, 30-24, 30-25.
“I obviously got [expletive] up there, lost this one,” Mitrione said in an Instagram video. “I felt like in the middle of it I thought to myself, ‘It’s the perfect time for a Snickers commercial,’ because I wasn’t going anywhere for 15 minutes. That mother [expletive] just rode me like a pony, man. He’s a great wrestler. I’m not. He took advantage of it and did a great job. Great job, Bader. You whooped my ass. I didn’t quit. I didn’t look very good, but I never gave up, so I can still go home to my babies with my head held high.”
Bader defeated Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal with a 15-second knockout in May in the opening round of the tournament. Mitrione, meanwhile, defeated Roy Nelson in February to advance. Bader will face the winner of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen, which takes place Saturday at Bellator 208.
Nelson was featured in the co-main event Friday but it did not end well for the longtime fan favourite as he was knocked out by Sergei Kharitonov with one second remaining in the opening round of their heavyweight scrap.
Here are the complete Bellator 207 results:
MAIN CARD
— Ryan Bader def. Matt Mitrione by unanimous decision
— Sergei Kharitonov def. Roy Nelson by knockout
— Lorenz Larkin def. Ion Pascu by unanimous decision
— Corey Browning def. Baby Slice by TKO
— Mandel Nallo def. Carrington Banks by knockout
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Mike Kimbel def. Alex Potts by knockout
— Janay Harding def. Sinead Kavanagh by TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
— Andre Fialho def. Javier Torres by majority decision
— Sarah Click def. Kristi Lopez by unanimous decision
— Vinicius de Jesus def. Tim Caron by unanimous decision
— Alexandra Ballou def. Lisa Blaine by TKO
— Pat Casey def. Kastriot Xhema by unanimous decision
— Kemran Lachinov def. Sean Lally by unanimous decision
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