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[TBEAR]

Source - BADER IS HAPPY TO FACE JON JONES AFTER NOGUEIRA- MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more

The plan for Ryan Bader is pretty clear. He wants to get to the UFC light heavyweight title, and he'll go through anyone to get there.

The next step for that goal comes at UFC 119 where the former "Ultimate Fighter" winner takes on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the night's co-main event. UFC president Dana White has hinted that the winner of their bout could be the next person to face phenom Jon Jones.

If that's the path the UFC has laid out for him, Bader is more than okay with that, because it's not about who, it's about how. How he gets a shot at the 205-pound divisional title.

"With that being said, not looking past Nogueira, yeah I'm absolutely fine with that," Bader told MMAWeekly Radio about facing Jones. "All I want is to get to my ultimate goal, which is to win that belt."

The 205-pound division in the UFC is arguably one of the deepest and most dangerous divisions in the sport. The championship has floated around between several fighters, with no one defending the belt more than one time since Chuck Liddell was champion.

Bader's opinion of facing Jones is like that of facing any top-level fighter: he's going to have to face them eventually, so why avoid it?

"Whoever I have to go through that's fine with me," Bader said. "Whether it's Jon Jones, whether it's somebody else, it doesn't matter. I'm getting to that point right now where I'm fighting tough guys every single time. You're just going to trade one tough guy for another. It really doesn't matter."

The choice is what Bader is happy to surrender if the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a crack at the title. If the UFC says fight Jon Jones, guess what? Ryan Bader will happily fight Jon Jones.

"If the UFC says 'hey, you've got to fight him to get a fight for the title, for No. 1 contendership' of course you're going to take that," Bader commented.
With the test of Nogueira standing directly in his way next weekend, Bader is focused on beating him, or whoever else the UFC throws at him.

In his mind, Bader believes he's no more than a couple of fights away from a title shot, and that makes him more motivated to win than anything else.

"I'm leaving it up to them," he said. "I've just got to go out, win this fight, after that I assume I win one more, I get a title shot, or at the most two more."

Ryan Bader will look to take that next step at UFC 119 in Indianapolis next Saturday night.

Iwant to see Bader vs Jones. It could happen cause I have Bader beating Lil Nog

[Trojan Fight Club]

I too have Bader beating Lil' Nog, and I think he could beat Jones as well. War Darth Bader

[GL Jeff]

Right now Bader is the only guy I can see breaking into the top 5. While Jones has looked good, he needs to step up the level of competition hes been fighting.

[Rumble]

That would be one hell of a fight, but in my opinion it's a waste of a potential contender.

I've said this in several threads and I'll say it again,the UFC has done of good job of building both of these guys up slowly and turning them into potential contenders. Both are young and extremely talented, so there should be no rush in pushing these guys towards a title, although I do think Bader is just a bit closer to a title shot than Jones.

Another thing to think about is that Bones has yet to fight a top 10 LHW (although I will say the competition he has fast has been pretty solid), so what makes him the contendership gate keeper all of a sudden.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see this fight, just not this early in their careers. Both have at least a fight or two until they get their respective title shots, so why rush these 2 into fighting each other and losing a young, up and coming prospect?

[GL Jeff]

Originally Posted by Rumble

That would be one hell of a fight, but in my opinion it's a waste of a potential contender.

I've said this in several threads and I'll say it again,the UFC has done of good job of building both of these guys up slowly and turning them into potential contenders. Both are young and extremely talented, so there should be no rush in pushing these guys towards a title, although I do think Bader is just a bit closer to a title shot than Jones.

Another thing to think about is that Bones has yet to fight a top 10 LHW (although I will say the competition he has fast has been pretty solid), so what makes him the contendership gate keeper all of a sudden.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see this fight, just not this early in their careers. Both have at least a fight or two until they get their respective title shots, so why rush these 2 into fighting each other and losing a young, up and coming prospect?

Sometimes loosing opens up more doors then winning. And they are both coming up, Jones needs a step up in competition, while Bader has already taken it. Bader is ahead,Jones needs to catch up.

And I think both these guys are more then 2 fights from a title shot, what with Rashad next, Machida coming back,Couture right their. Along with Franklin,Rampage, and Forest,being the LHW division sucks.

[IceCold48]

ahh baders gonna lose! the jynx of talking about your future opponents when you have a fight scheduled

[KamikazePongtha]

I believe it'll be a split decision next weekend, favoring for Bader. It can go either way, unfortunately we haven't seen Bader take a real clean shot from a striker thus far and Lil Nog will easily provide that for him. The question for me remains is "Can he take a shot?"

Other than that, I feel that Bader would win if he can handle Lil Nog's fists.

In regards with him being a title picture, I don't see him winning the title anytime soon. Other than Lil Nog there's still Shogun's relentless Muay Thai, Machida's very elusive karate, Evan's KO power and great wrestling, Rampage's power both fists/slams and Jon's highly athletic and well rounded skills.

Now although Bader has above average boxing and power, I think he should really utilize his wrestling from here on out. He'll definitely get drawing power from being on the most controversial TUF and the crowd loves a KO, but he should really stick to his bread and butter. The dude is a three-time PAC 10 Champion and two-time D-1 All-American.

Other than that, still rooting for Bader, love Lil Nog but his last performance in May was not all that impressive in comparison to Bader's.

[Black]

I have Bader beating Lil Nog , but I think Lil Nog would have better chance to beat Jon Jones then Bader....

[SimpleJack]

Right now Bader is the only guy I can see breaking into the top 5. While Jones has looked good, he needs to step up the level of competition hes been fighting.

Jones needs a step up in competition, while Bader has already taken it. Bader is ahead,Jones needs to catch up.

Are you nuts?

You can't honestly believe Jardine, Schafer, Marrero, and Magalhaes are actually better competition than Vladdy, Vera, Hamill, and Bonnar......

[Chute_Boxe44]

Originally Posted by GL Jeff

Right now Bader is the only guy I can see breaking into the top 5. While Jones has looked good, he needs to step up the level of competition hes been fighting.

See this is what confuses me about the differnece between the two. Who in gods name has Bader beaten that is so amazing?? Jardine and Shaufer?? Sorry guys I'm not sold on that as of right now, while Jones has beaten Vera, Matuseko, O'Brien, Bonnar, and beat the shit out of Hamill. So in all honestly I'm waaay more impressed by Jones at this point then Bader. So lets not everyone jump the gun until the man gets the job done on Saturday. In all honesty if he wins I guarnatee you it will be by boring UD.