After the light-heavyweight scrap between Ryan Bader and Ilir Latifi was over, there was one phrase on everyone’s lips.
Bader provided the perfect comeback to getting rendered unconscious by Anthony Johnson in January when he took on Ilir Latifi at UFC Hamburg on Saturday night.
Latifi was riding a three-fight win streak heading into this fight, and a 5-2 record in the UFC, with his last defeat coming back in 2014. The Swede was hoping to propel himself right into the title frame by taking out Bader, but the American had other plans.
After controlling the distance and having the better of the striking battles in the early stages of round one, Bader was caught briefly by some wild punches towards the end of the stanza. However, the bout was finished in the second when Bader faked a punch up top causing Latifi to duck down. However, the Swede’s dome was met with a ferocious knee that left him flat on his hoop.
Game over.
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The KO takes Bader’s career record to 21-5, with six wins from his last seven bouts (the exception coming against Johnson at UFC on Fox 18.
But Bader admitted after the bout that he’s done thinking about title runs at the moment.
“That’s my mindset right now, whoever they give me, just go out there and not make a big deal about it,” he said in a post-fight press conference.
“When I’m out there, it frees me to take risks and have fun. I fight better.”
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