Bellator MMA Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader successfully defended the gold by defeating Linton Vassell at Bellator 186.
When the champion makes his next title defense, the opponent in his mind should be King Mo.
“There’s always ‘King Mo’ out there,” Bader said after the event. “We’d been scheduled to fight before when I first came over. I think he’s deserving – the next in line, really. So I’d probably say him.”
Bader and Mo were set to fight in Bader’s promotional debut at Bellator 180, but Mo pulled out of the fight due to an injury.
The light heavyweight champion spent the majority of his career competing in the UFC, but Bellator MMA feels more like home to him.
“I just feel like this is home,” Bader told MMA Junkie. “You see a lot of UFC guys come over and they don’t do too well, and I don’t know what it is. I’ve wrestled all over the world. In the UFC, I fought all over the world. Coming over here, never stepping foot in a Bellator cage until 30 seconds right before a title fight, I just follow my routine and I know I’m going to perform. For me, getting my feet wet, feeling comfortable, it definitely feels like home already.”
Mo hasn’t competed since March of this year when he defeated longtime rival and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson at Bellator 175.
