Is Bader really good or is the division really bad now?

[bjpenngoat]

Basically what the title is asking. He is 15-5 in the ufc but all 5 of his losses are super awful. Tito finished him, bones and glover obliterated him, Machida machida'd him and rumble demolished him. With that being said he has beaten everyone else on the roster including rampage, phil davis and hashad. all big win imo. Is Bader really all that great considering he is the #4 lhw right now or is the division that bad that Bader could be a top 5 fighter.

 

[Mamou]

The latter

 

[Joe_Armstrong]

I am not impressed by his performance.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

He is good

Besides the Ortiz loss he has only lost to top 5 guys..Machida,Jones.Glover,Rumble

 

[Ez Eric]

A little bit of both.

He beat Phil Davis which is impressive

 

[The guest]

Failure of a thread from a 2009 account. If you need to ask this question...Pack it in and quit posting.

 

[BRaVo cHoKe]

The division has seen better days, but Bader is good.

Really wish he'd change his nickname from "Darth" to "The Master"

 

[Dogo1]

I think Bader is real good just don't see him beating the guys ahead of him.

 

[myjohnson9]

Bacer has gotten a lot better recently but will never be a champion imo

 

[SeattleFightFan]

he's better, but basically he hasn't changed. he was always been just outside the top tier of fighters. but 5 years ago that meant Evans, Rampage, Hendo, Shogun, etc, putting him in the lower top 10. Today it's only several guys, putting him in the top 5.

like how Bisping got into the top 5 via attrition without ever beating a top 5 fighter (until he finally did). same thing here.

 

[Lionkill]

He aight

 

[RockyLockridge]

Bader is and always has been a great fighter. but yes the division is weaker, so him being number 1 contender is a bit out of proprotion but in a division that had shogun, rampage, machida, evens, jones, glover, chuck Liddell, tito and cormier he's always been there and as long as I can remember hes beeen in the top 10.

And for what its worth he'd demolish Glover in a rematch and was well on his way to knocking his ass out before he got careless.

 

[FranOlivetto]

He's really good at sleeping on the octagon

 

[bjpenngoat]

Failure of a thread from a 2009 account. If you need to ask this question...Pack it in and quit posting.

Ok pray tell, why is this a "failure of a thread" when the discourse has been basically a consensus that mirrored my exact thoughts in the op.

 

[Spycho]

He shits the bed against legit guys.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

A little bit of both.

He's more confident striking now, some of his opponents should be retired and the division is on a decline.

Ryan Bader is a top 5-10 guy.

 

[Bmurray]

Both

 

[BGDDYKWL]

The division is very weak right now minus a few guys. The guys outside the top 5-8 are very mediocre. We've seen Bader against top competition and he's always gotten destroyed.

 

[Valhoven]

Honestly, two guys who never get the respect they deserve for being good fighters are Mitrione and Bader.

Indeed, they'll never be in that top-3, élite mix of anything but both have shown adaptability amongst other intangibles that can't be taught. I enjoy watching both of them and have no problem with neither ever being the next Chuck Liddell or Matt Hughes.

 

[chickenlip]

Glover didn't obliterate him. He was doing really well until he got caught because he got overly aggressive, I'd pick Bader to win the fight dominantly if they were to rematch. Hes a quality fighter either way, but the division isn't anything spectacular right now