Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader is a free agent.
Bader (31-8-1) has amicably parted ways with PFL with one fight remaining on his deal. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial report from Ariel Helwani on Wednesday.
Bader, 41, hasn’t competed since suffering a quick knockout loss to Renan Ferreira in the PFL vs. Bellator: Champions headliner in February 2024. Prior to that, the former Bellator dual-champion notched the most consecutive heavyweight title defenses in company history when he defeated Valentin Moldavsky, Cheick Kongo and Fedor Emelianenko.
Shortly after losing to Ferreira, Bader announced that he would be taking a hiatus to join the cast of the Mark Kerr biopic “The Smashing Machine,” starring The Rock, which is expected to be released later this year.
Bader is just the latest fighter from PFL’s purchase of Bellator to ask to leave the company. Many others have asked to be released and been granted it, or have publicly spoken out about PFL’s treatment – or non-treatment – of its fighters, particularly those who came over from Bellator.
