The light heavyweight winner on the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter", Ryan Bader is an ultra-talented MMA prospect currently signed to the UFC. Before entering the sport of mixed martial arts Bader had a solid NCAA Division I wrestling career, and currently trains with fellow wrestling standouts C.B. Dollaway and Aaron Simpson (amongst others) at Arizona Combat Sports. A tremendous all-around athlete, Bader shows promise in his overall game and has a chance to develop into a complete well rounded light heavyweight fighter.

After winning two state high school wrestling championships, Bader went on to wrestle at Arizona State University where he would become a three-time PAC 10 Champion, a two time NCAA Division I All-American and finish eighth on the all-time wins list for ASU. Bader's pure wrestling credentials are excellent, and he has an athletic, explosive brand of wrestling that traditionally has translated over very well to MMA. He has a tremendous shot and a great double leg - driving right through his opponents with strong takedowns and has had no real issues getting the fight to the mat in his short career. Bader shows well-developing jiu jitsu skills, a solid awareness of submissions (especially with head and arm chokes) and does have the ability to take advantage of - and finish opponents on the ground with his grappling ability. A very heavy puncher, Bader also has excellent ground and pound potential (see his TUF fight with Tom Lawlor as evidence) and with his tremendous wrestling base and developing ground skills has the tools necessary to develop into an excellent overall MMA grappler.

To compliment his stellar wrestling abilities and ever improving ground game, Bader has also shown the potential to develop into a very dangerous fighter on his feet with good leg kicks, heavy hands and explosive punching power. In his UFC debut, Bader knocked out Vinny Magalhaes standing and also staggered Eric Schafer numerous times in their bout, and his knockout power makes him a legitimate threat to finish the fight at any time he is on his feet. Bader has shown that he is very comfortable with his standup and will use his wrestling to keep the fight standing when he sees fit. An excellent athlete, Bader has good instincts on his feet and is a natural striker who appears to be developing into a very well rounded MMA fighter. At times he has relied too much on trying to land the "big" right hand, and he will need to work on continuing to diversify his striking game. Bader also has a tendency to slow down as the fight progresses and will need to work hard on getting his cardio and conditioning to the point where he can operate at a high level for multiple rounds.