Coach: Ryan Bader has a ‘great chance’ of finishing Daniel Cormier inside five rounds

Bloodyelbow.com

Ryan Bader’s coach, Jair Lourenco, believes the Bellator two-weight world champion has a very realistic chance of finishing Daniel Cormier if they two are to meet in a fight in the future.

Shortly after Cormier simultaneously won his UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, Bader did the same for Bellator. He recently knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in just 35 seconds last month to win the vacant heavyweight title.

Although the pair traded barbs back in 2015 and were scheduled to fight each other in the UFC that year, Bader stated “he’s over that” beef, but would still be keen for a fight with Cormier. His coach Lourenco told MMA Fighting the same.

“That’s the fight we wanted. That’s the fight everybody wanted,” Lourenco said “It’s an old rivalry, and it would be the first champ-champ vs. champ-champ cross-promotion in MMA history. That only happens in boxing. That’s a fight I wanted to see.

“I believe that a five-round fight would be a great scenario for us. Bader does great in five-round fights, but they both have heavy hands. “Lourenco said.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a war, but I believe Bader has a great chance of finishing him inside five rounds.”

Bader has not lost a fight since signing for Bellator in June 2017, picking up stoppage victories against the likes of Muhammed Lawal and Linton Vassell during his current five-fight stint for the promotion.

“Cormier is a great guy, much respect to him, but I see a good match-up for Bader. Cormier is an excellent wrestler with a good game on short range, the same game Bader does well. Cormier did more in pure wrestling, but Bader’s wrestling is great for MMA.”