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Ryan Bader Fighting Out His Contract at UFC Sao Paulo
For UFC light-heavyweight Ryan Bader, not only is his upcoming rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, important to his standing within the division, it’s also big in terms of his contractual status with the company.
Bader, in speaking to MMAFighting.com, discussed not re-signing with the UFC prior to his current contract ending after his fight with Nogueira, and what his thought process was going into that decision.
“I see myself fighting in the UFC, but it’s just one of those things where it just made sense for us to just take a fight, and just fight it out, and just go from there,” Bader said. “You kind of bet on yourself, and there’s no real master plan or intent behind it.”
Bader states that the UFC did reach out to make an offer, but it wasn’t such that he felt he had to sign right away, rather than take his chances after his fight Saturday night.
“Yeah, they came and offered us to re-sign, but it was nothing substantially crazy, so we just kind of declined and said we’re going to fight it out,” said Bader. “It is what it is.
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“Like I said, there’s no real intent behind it. It’s just kind of like, why not? It’s my 18th, 19th fight in the UFC, let’s just get to that point and hopefully have a little more leverage, and just kind of go from there.”
Bader’s veteran status with the UFC could be a big asset in contract negotiations, as well as possible interest he could get from other promotions.
“That’s the beauty about being a free agent,” Bader said. “It’s on the table. Like I said, I don’t necessarily want to leave the UFC – I love the UFC, and I believe it’s where I’ll be – but you never know. It’s on the table.
“I’m not even concentrating on that right now. Just concentrated on the fight ahead, and we’ll kind of see after.”
While Bader’s focus is on his fight with Nogueira, he acknowledged that what happens within the bout itself could have an impact on what kind of contract he’s offered, but doesn’t feel it’s any different than what he’s faced in the past.
“Going out there and losing doesn’t help you,” said Bader. “Winning, yeah, it’ll help somewhat. But like I said, it was one of those things it was my last fight, and I said let’s fight it out, why not?
“Like I said, there’s no master plan behind it, but yeah, every fight going out there and winning is going to boost your stock, and it’s no different with this one.”
