Ryan Bader was looking forward to possibly figuring for a shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship title but will have to settle for a returning Rashad Evans instead at UFC 192 this coming Oct. 3.
Bader is riding on the momentum of four straight victories, something he feels deserving of a possible shot at the UFC light heavyweight title. But with all that over and done with, he sets his eyes on Evans, whom he says will be an easy opponent.
To recall the history of both fighters, Bader may have a point.
Evans has been out of the Octagon for nearly two years due to injuries and repeated surgeries and such could make the 35-year-old American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter a bit brittle and tender.
And with the long layoff plus the necessary training he would have to go through, Bader is far from convinced that he is in for a tough fight against Evans.
"If you're not training for two years your body isn't used to that, the rigors of a training camp and what you have to put it through to be in peak physical condition," says Bader in an interview with Submission Radio.
Despite those odds, however, Evans could care less. In fact he loves the fact that he is entering the match as the underdog, although he warns that it would be premature to underestimate him at UFC 192.
"He's going to be in for a rude awakening and he's going to realize that I'm not the same fighter that he watched even a fight ago," says Evans via Fox Sports
Bader missed out on a possible opportunity at UFC champ Daniel Cormier, who will be facing Alexander Gustaffson instead in the main event. Gustaffson is coming of a knockout loss at the hands of Anthony Johnson so the selection does seem odd, considering Bader is on a four-fight winning streak.
Hopefully Bader will get the next shot but before thinking of that, he first needs to take care of business and cop win no. 5 at the expense of a returning Rashad Evans.
