With all these injuries currently haunting the UFC, it’s time for all of the young prospects to start stepping up, taking bigger fights, and sink or swim. We’ve seen it with Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez and now it’s Ryan Bader’s turn. MMA Weekly bring us:
A light heavyweight bout has been added to the UFC’s first trip to the land down under. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Ryan “Darth” Bader looks to keep his undefeated record in tact as he faces “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine.
The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday by multiple sources close to the fight, who indicated bout agreements have been issued for the upcoming fight.
Bader (10-0) has looked strong in both of his fights since winning The Ultimate Fighter competition, most recently in a unanimous decision victory over Eric “Red” Schafer. The former All-American from Arizona State showed some dangerous stand-up to compliment his impressive wrestling background to batter Schafer for the better part of the fight to get the win.
Now taking a step forward in competition, Bader sets his sights on Jardine (15-6-1), who has been a perennially tough fighter, always in or hovering around the Top 10 of the 205-pound division.
Bader is still the most potential filled 205 fighter this side of Jonny Bones, but he is moving up big time. He’s a great wrestler with a huge right hand, but his game is far from perfect. He lacks brisp boxing, and relies far too much on his power to get him through fights.
He’s never fought anyone anywhere close to the talent level of Jardine. While I’m very tough on Kieth, he is always hanging around the top 10 of the UFC light heavyweight division. The list of names that he fought reads like a list of legends of the sport: Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Wanderlei Silva are just a few of the high quality opponents that he’s fought. He features some bizarre striking that sometimes gives people problems, but has generally figured by most higher end fighters. He’s got pretty good takedown defense, but there seems to be a pattern. When he gets taken down, he loses. When he can avoid them he wins. One look at his report on FightMetric will show you that one.
I like Bader to take “The Dean of Mean” down and get a victory here.
After watching Mike Swick guillotine Joe Riggs at UFC 60, Anthony was completely hooked on MMA. Since then, he has dedicated himself to spreading the gospel to the uninitiated, showing the world why MMA is great.When not writing, or worrying about this site, Anthony enjoys reading and playing XBOX 360. 
