Where would you rank Ryan Bader in the current UFC HW division?

[Sweater of AV]

Pushing top 5. Styles make fights. He beats guys like Rozenstruik but loses to Blaydes in a competitive fight.

 

[markg171]

Yeah I saw that. I also picked Corey Anderson to win that fight.
This may shock you, but Corey Anderson and Derrick Lewis are not the same person, and in fact, don’t even have a similar fighting style. Anderson is a fast LHW. Derrick Lewis is a slow, lumbering HW. Bader is declining and his chin is questionable, but Lewis is just too slow to exploit that I think.

Much slow

 

[Volador]

Probably top 10, but not top 5. He’s small and not nearly as good as DC. I mean, he got destroyed by Corey Anderson. I don’t see him being able to wrestlefuck giant dudes like Francis, Gane, Blaydes, Lewis or Volkov. Stipe is better everywhere too, although he’s kinda shot. He’d basically be a much smaller Blaydes with slightly better fight IQ.

 

[BFoe]

Much slow

Lewis is decently athletic and moves alright for a guy with his size and frame.
But we are not talking about that, we are talking about whether he is fast enough to catch Ryan Bader. I lean towards no.
I’m not saying it *can’t* happen—Lewis has KO power and good timing, so it’s certainly a possibility. But I think Bader not only outwrestles him, but outlands him striking as well. Those shots Bader landed on Mo or Fedor wouldn’t be fight enders against Lewis— but I think Bader is fast enough to get in and out and land them, mix in his wrestling, and win however many rounds that fight is and take a decision.
Again, I’m not saying Lewis can’t win. Of course he can win. I think Bader being too fast and too good in the wrestling department is more likely.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Voted top 3. I think he could hang with all of the top ranked guys currently. HW isn't so hot right now.

 

[SaltedVinegarfootstomps]

Bader would look pedestrian against the top 5. His face would get death starred by multiple HWs and although his wrestling and gas tank would most definitely carry him to some wins, he’d probably alternate devastating losses with dec wins over gassed out giants. He’s 38, which is old for LHW but not as much of a factor among the fatties at heavy weight. He has done his career a great service by leaving for Bellator, but he never wears a belt in the UFC.

 

[mjfan23]

Top five but he will have fights where he gets finished outta no where by guys he should have beat.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Lesnar could be a top 5 still to this day. Sake with Cain if he was able to fix his body

Totally agree, 100% agreed. Brock would have a field day with guys like Tuivasa and Black Beast.. who I really like, they are fun fighters, but these type of fighters in UFC HW top 10 would be Gold for Brock

 

[froggyluv]

Entirely comes down to which league is testing PEDs

 

[vivi]

Top 10, more likely in the bottom half of it

 

[AB234]

He has good fast twitch muscles for punches you don't see coming, good cardio and good wrestling. I'd say top 3.

 

[Texan6533]

He’s be top 10, maybe top 5 just because of lack of elite competition, wrestling skills, and speed.

 

[KO Shotz]

Stipe, Lewis, Gane, Tai, Blaydes, Ngannou (if he comes back), & Jones (if he ever comes up to HW ) would be able to run it with him.

 

[Small Town Andrew]

1 or 2 years ago I'd say 3-5 but now it's 6 or 7? Divisions just better now. I'm not convinced he's even better than Mold and Kongo in Bellator tbh.

Good post the division is a little better and Bader is older. I think he is a little past his prime but would certainly be good enough to be top 10 in UFC

 

[Phisher]

Derrick Lewis is top 3. Bader would beat the shit out of him so top 3 I guess. UFC heavyweight division is that bad.

Bader would get KO'd in the second or third round against Lewis.

Claiming that he's a legit top 5 HW is even dumber than when some people were starting to say that he was arguably the top LHW in the world.

Bellator's HW division is dogshit. FAR worse than the UFC's. The two top contenders are ancient versions of Fedor and Chieck Kongo, and the tournament that Bader won the belt in had multiple MWs in it.

The MMA hipsterism on this forum is beyond embarrassing somethings.

 

[Jewish Lightning]

Bader would get KO'd in the second or third round against Lewis.

Claiming that he's a legit top 5 HW is even dumber than when some people were starting to say that he was arguably the top LHW in the world.

Bellator's HW division is dogshit. FAR worse than the UFC's. The two top contenders are ancient versions of Fedor and Chieck Kongo.

The MMA hipsterism on this forum is beyond embarrassing somethings.

Bader and Moldavsky would beat Derrick Lewis easily.

He's a top 3 title contender in the ufc.

Be careful talking shit about bellator hw division when Lewis is where he is.

 

[Phisher]

Bader and Moldavsky would beat Derrick Lewis easily.

He's a top 3 title contender in the ufc.

Be careful talking shit about bellator hw division when Lewis is where he is.

They both get knocked the fuck out trying to wrestle Lewis.

Grappling with Lewis has been a losing proposition for everybody save for DC. The guys who've had the most success against the late career version of Lewis are competent technical strikers.

Also, Moldavsky is mediocre as fuck and only had hype on him because of the association with Fedor. An American D1 wrestler who put on the same type of fights would get roasted mercilessly on these forums.

You people can laugh at Lewis all you want to, but he has the record for KOs in the UFC and has managed to stay ranked a fuck of a lot longer and get more big wins than a lot of guys that you give more credit to.

 

[Jewish Lightning]

They both get knocked the fuck out trying to wrestle Lewis.

Grappling with Lewis has been a losing proposition for everybody save for DC. The guys who've had the most success against the late career version of Lewis are competent technical strikers.

Also, Moldavsky is mediocre as fuck and only had hype on him because of the association with Fedor. An American D1 wrestler who put on the same type of fights would get roasted mercilessly on these forums.

You people can laugh at Lewis all you want to, but he has the record for KOs in the UFC and has managed to stay ranked a fuck of a lot longer and get more big wins than a lot of guys that you give more credit to.

This is a bunch of nonsense. Lewis had to get gift decisions against the 5'8 Latifi and Blogoi Ivanov. Two guys who easily avoided getting knocked out by him and consistently outgrappled him.

Both guys are lower level than Bader and Valentin.

Your ufc fan boy love of Derrick Lewis is strong but he'd lose to both more times than not because his grappling is terrible.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Oleinik had him on the ground, Ivanov had him on the ground, Latifi had him on the ground. None of them subbed him. Oleinik is a significantly bigger threat on the ground than Bader imo.

Bader's top game is a lot more likely to keep Lewis on the ground for extended periods of time. Of the guys Lewis has fought the most similar to Bader are Latifi and DC both kept Lewis on the ground a lot longer than most and a lot of people thought Latifi beat Lewis.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

They both get knocked the fuck out trying to wrestle Lewis.

Grappling with Lewis has been a losing proposition for everybody save for DC. The guys who've had the most success against the late career version of Lewis are competent technical strikers.

Also, Moldavsky is mediocre as fuck and only had hype on him because of the association with Fedor. An American D1 wrestler who put on the same type of fights would get roasted mercilessly on these forums.

You people can laugh at Lewis all you want to, but he has the record for KOs in the UFC and has managed to stay ranked a fuck of a lot longer and get more big wins than a lot of guys that you give more credit to.

Latifi did really well wrestling Lewis and if I remember right, he probably should have won.