Chael Sonnen, Ryan Bader avoid weight cuts ahead of Bellator fights
Chael Sonnen at weigh-ins on Jan. 20, 2017 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Credit: Bellator MMA
Rare are the times when a mixed martial artist can speak openly and freely during a fight week about gaining weight for a fight.
But that’s the enviable position in which Ryan Bader and Chael Sonnen sit as they prepare for their Bellator heavyweight grand prix semifinal bouts this weekend. Bader, the reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion, will face Matt Mitrione at Bellator 207 on Friday night at Mohegan Sun. Sonnen, a middleweight throughout most of his career, headlines Bellator 208 against Fedor Emelianenko at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night.
“Going into my last fight, I didn’t cut any weight and I felt amazing without pulling 15-20 pounds of water out of my body like I usually do at 205,” Bader said Tuesday on a conference call. “I went in there happy as can be, the same weight I am when I’m training, when I’m sparring, when I know I’m feeling good. So this will be no different.”
Bader had no reason to put his body through the arduous process of cutting double-digit pounds in single-digit days just to reach a contracted number at a contracted time. The dehydration process takes its toll on the body and the mind, something both Bader and Sonnen know very well after a combined 76 MMA fights and college careers as All-American wrestlers at Arizona State and Oregon, respectively.
Bader weighed in at 225.1 pounds for Bellator 199 last May. He knocked out long-time light heavyweight “King Mo" Lawal(217.4 pounds) 15 seconds into the first round in their quarterfinal bout.
Ryan Bader, left, chases "King Mo" Lawal during a heavyweight fight at Bellator 199 in San Jose, Calif., on May 12. Credit: AP / Jeff Chiu
Bader (25-5, 3-0 Bellator) said he “strategically” added about 10 pounds of lean muscle for Friday’s semifinal against Mitrione and expects to be around 235 or so for the bout. Mitrione (13-5, 4-0), a defensive tackle for the Giants in 2002 and a career heavyweight in MMA, weighed in at 255 pounds for his February quarterfinal against Roy Nelson.
“I feel like I’m faster than ever, my cardio is better than it’s ever been. I’m coming into this fight 100 percent healthy,” Bader said. “He may come in 10-15 pounds heavier. Who cares? I train with bigger guys all the time. I want to keep my attributes that make me good. I don’t want to lose that to try to gain some sloppy poundage.”
Sonnen (30-15-1, 2-1) spent most of his career fighting in the 185-pound middleweight division before moving up to the 205-pound light heavyweight division several years ago. He weighed in at 222 pounds for his quarterfinal bout against the 255-pound Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in January.
Sonnen said he plans to be around 220 pounds again when he faces Emelianenko (37-5, 1-1), considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in history, on Saturday at the Coliseum. Emelianenko weighed in at 240 pounds when he fought Frank Mir in the quarterfinals in April.
“I’ve always thought us smaller guys were the better athletes, whether it was 185 or 205,” Sonnen said. “And that was going to be my approach. I was going to use speed and athleticism, ability to put things together, to chain-wrestle, to push a pace harder than what heavyweights have seen. And whether that turns out to right or not, that’s the philosophy I went with.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
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