When it comes to MMA careers, Ryan Bader was practically a UFC lifer. Starting his career back in the spring of 2007, Bader rushed out to a 7-0 record in just one year’s time. By May of 2008, he was in the Ultimate Fighter house. In December, Dana White was handing him his TUF trophy and the UFC’s signature “six-figure contract” that comes with winning the Ultimate Fighter.

For the next 8 years, Bader would make a steady climb of the light heavyweight ranks. It wasn’t without setbacks; after running out a 5-0 record he dropped two straight – to future champion Jon Jones and former champion Tito Ortiz. Eventually Bader put together a 15-5 record in the UFC, beating fighters like Rampage Jackson, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (twice). But, despite his tenure and his success – and despite working in an increasingly talent-drained weightclass – the chance for a title shot continued to elude him.

It didn’t help that each of his losses were decisive finishes. But more than that, he just didn’t seem to be a fighter that the UFC was interested in pushing. He was in the Jon Fitch and Demian Maia position of forever being one potential win from contention. And each loss started him back at the beginning. Speaking to Bloody Elbow, Bader talked about that feeling and why it was one of the reasons he decided to enter the free agent market, and eventually sign with Bellator.

“For sure,” Bader said when asked if he was happy to be in a promotion that treated him as an instant contender. “That’s one of the reasons that I’m sitting here talking to you today about a Bellator fight. It’s because I love what they had to say. I sat down with Scott Coker, Rich Chou, they had a plan for Bellator, but they also had a plan for me. That was one of the questions that I asked them when I had lunch with them, we were kinda figuring out where we were gonna go. And I could have signed a contract with the UFC, I could have re-upped before my last fight with Nogueira. I chose not to. It was just one of those things where, yeah, I don’t want to keep having that carrot dangled in front of my face. They say, ‘Oh, we’ll just… Oh, one more, one more, one more. Do this, do this.’ It was one of those things where I finally get to prove what I can do, I finally get that opportunity.”

But it wasn’t just the lure of getting a title shot that pushed Bader toward a Bellator contract. The promotion has also made a point of tailoring it’s contracts to each of its major signings. Some fighters have gotten chances to do commentary, others have found options to try their hand at kickboxing, and Bellator has even sent fighters over to Rizin to participate in the promotion’s Grand Prix events. For his part, Bader got an ‘activity clause,’ requiring Bellator to offer him a set amount of fights in a set time frame.

“It’s not just one of those things where ‘Here’s the template and these are your numbers.’ Negotiations being, ‘Okay, we’ll go up 3 grand.’ It’s different for each fighter and we get to go in there and really negotiate and find out what’s best for you,” Bader said, explaining his ability to work on getting a contract he wanted with Bellator. “What do you want? What does the fighter want? What works for you and Bellator? Where is the happy medium? And opportunity was a big thing. When I met with them, that was one of my things too. What would fit me, personally; stuff like fighting in Japan, doing this and that. So, that was one of the factors, why I signed with them also. They treat us very well, and also my contract was awesome. There were other factors, other than just: How much am I gonna get paid?”

Of course, getting paid is still part of it. And a big lure in fighting for Bellator was the ability to get paid by private sponsors. The UFC’s Reebok deal killed off much of the sponsorship market in the promotion, as fighters could no longer wear clothing or represent brands other than Reebok while participating in UFC events. For Bader, that meant a massive loss in income.

“I’m not entirely sure for the whole market, but I just know that we’re right back to where we were in the heyday of sponsorships in the UFC, us personally,” Bader responded, when asked about how his current sponsorship stacks up to the pre-Reebok UFC days. “But, we have great relationships with a couple billion dollar companies that have stood by us for a long time. One, American Ethanol. You know, CtyoSport, which owns Muscle Milk and Monster Milk and all that kind of stuff. Those two have been great, they stuck around. And then we brought on some other great sponsors too. And it was just one of those things where it wasn’t hard. We stepped right back into what we were making when everything was open and free in the UFC. That’s a huge factor too. That’s a significant amount of income we were missing out on in the UFC.

“A lot of people attack Reebok, but it’s really not Reebok’s fault,” Bader continued. “They came in and they had a good deal – what I think was a good deal for them – and I have nothing against Reebok. It’s just one of those things where it’s kinda like, ‘This is how it is now. This is how it’s gonna change, and it’s better for all of you.’ When that necessarily wasn’t the case. And you see that now, and people are using Reebok as a scapegoat, when it really wasn’t them. They were just doing business and it’s just one of those things where it got forced on us. And to all a sudden say, ‘Alright, you lose out on 3/4 of your sponsorship income, but we’re paying you this.’ I was one of those guys that was the highest tenured guy, that had 17, 18, 19, about 20 fights in the UFC, you know. And it still wasn’t a fraction of what I was making. So, that’s why you see a lot of these guys come out. And they use Reebok, but I don’t necessarily think they should be funneling their anger toward Reebok. It should be toward the UFC, or whatnot, who put them in place and took away their ability to get outside sponsorship.

“And you hear people speak out, because number 1, they don’t want to attack the UFC for fear of, not retaliation, but of getting kinda stonewalled on fights and whatnot. So they go down the line to Reebok and they can bitch about Reebok, without directly talking bad about the UFC.”

As for his upcoming fight, though? Bader is taking on a familiar foe in his Bellator debut, current light heavyweight champion Phil Davis. Davis made the move to the Spike TV promotion back in 2015 – following a split decision loss to Bader in his last UFC bout. Since the move, Davis has been on a tear, going 4-0 with wins over Emanuel Newton, Francis Carmont, King Mo, and Liam McGeary to capture the title. That puts Davis in a perfect position for Bader to make a big splash in his new promotion, but it isn’t their past meeting that has Bader confident he can beat Davis again.

“I’m not confident because of that,” Bader responded, when asked if having already beat Davis gave him an advantage. “I’m just confident in my abilities right now. I’m more confident in the progression I’ve made since that fight. I’ve done a ton of drilling this camp, since my last fight, it’s a new coaching staff. We’re working a ton on all the different aspects I need to work on, and getting better in the other aspects. That’s where the confidence comes from. And it also comes from, I’ve had a good camp, I’m in great shape, I’m ready to go 5 hard rounds, I feel amazing. So, my confidence doesn’t come from the fight, although it helps. I know what he brings, I know how strong he is and how fast he is, but my confidence comes from everything that’s transpired from that fight.”

“If you go back and really study his fights,” Bader continued, “you look at who he’s had trouble with, it’s other wrestlers. From Rashad, to Anthony Johnson, me, his last fight with King Mo – which some people thought he lost, some people thought he won, close fight, he had trouble with him though. If he doesn’t get that takedown, then he’s not comfortable and he starts kinda freakin’ out a little bit. So he ends up taking bad shots, or tiring himself out. It’s one of those things where, yeah, last fight he took me down, and it happens in some fights. He’s a great wrestler. But, I’m prepared, whatever happens here. I’m excited about it.”

Bellator NYC & Bellator 180 take place on Saturday, June 24th at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Ryan Bader vs. Phil Davis will headline the Spike TV undercard ahead of the PPV in their bout for the promotion’s light heavyweight title. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more coverage as the event approaches.