Ryan Bader on his status as the most coveted free agent in MMA today

Ryan Bader is nearing the end of his free agency period as one of the most coveted fighters to ever hit the open market in mixed martial arts.

Some may scoff at the idea that Bader is that highly sought after considering he's not a champion or former champion, but his record and the landscape of the light heavyweight division have put a premium price on his services.

In the UFC, Bader is a consistent top five fighter with a 7-1 record over his last eight fights, including blistering finishing over his last two opponents. The UFC light heavyweight division is also arguably the shallowest weight class in the promotion with a murderer's row in the top five but not much depth below. As for Bader's other primary suitor, Viacom-owned Bellator MMA, he holds a win over their current 205-pound champion Phil Davis, who also tested free agency and cashed in with a new deal outside the UFC.

Rather than just ink a new deal with the UFC prior to his last fight, Bader gambled on himself and now he's in a unique position where both organizations want him on the roster and he's excited about what the future holds for him.

"Back a couple years ago it was just something that you did not do," Bader told FOX Sports about free agency in MMA. "There were not many other options out there. In any other sport, this is what athletes strive to get to when they're a free agent at the top of their game. It's really -- in the sport of MMA -- it's kind of taboo to do. In any other sport, it's where you want to be at.

"We're at that point where we're kind of just looking into the future and see where we want to go. It's a good, exciting time. I'm not doing this for anything, being spiteful or anything like that. I'm just trying to better my position in the sport not only financially but also competition wise."

Bader knows he's a valuable asset to the UFC considering his record in the promotion, not to mention his history starting out as a winner of "The Ultimate Fighter" while also consistently fighting the best competition in the world.

Add to that, former champion Jon Jones is out until at least July after being suspended by USADA for violating the UFC's anti-doping policy while former two-time title contender Alexander Gustafsson still on the shelf dealing with injuries. Current champion Daniel Cormier dropped out of two bouts in 2016 due to injury and former title holder Rashad Evans just recently moved down to 185-pounds.

All of those facts aren't lost on Bader, who has been a stalwart of the division for the past eight years while climbing higher and higher in the rankings over his most recent run in the promotion.

"If you look at the light heavyweight division, I've beat most of the guys right behind me in the top 10 now and there's some intriguing fights in the UFC I would still like to have," Bader said. "It's kind of in chaos right now. (Daniel) Cormier's injured, he's going to fight Anthony Johnson, what happens when Jon Jones comes back? I know there's a quote from Dana White saying he's not going to fight in a main event anytime soon so that kind of throws everything in the air. We've got (Alexander) Gustafsson, who was just injured and we don't really know the status with him.

"So feasibly, if the cards all fall in the right position, I could be right there, the next fight fighting for the title or the fight after that. So that's always interesting to me."

 

Then there's Bellator MMA, where Bader holds a win over their current champion and that organization could afford him some unique opportunities as well. Bader specifically noted that he's even willing to go up to heavyweight to challenge himself.

Perhaps even a matchup against arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko.

"I've spent my career in the UFC, I love the UFC and I love fighting for them. That's there and being UFC champion has always been a goal of mine. The flip of the coin, there's a great light heavyweight division in Bellator. It's exciting. There's a lot of new blood. I got called out the other day on Twitter by a guy I've never even heard of and then there's guys like Wanderlei (Silva) and Chael (Sonnen), you've got Phil Davis obviously who's champ. It's intriguing on both sides of the coin," Bader said.

"That's one thing that Bellator has, they're open and you can take fights like I could fight Fedor (Emelianenko) at heavyweight. I'm not opposed to fighting at heavyweight. On the other side, I've been a UFC fighter my whole career and that's the standard. But everything we just talked about, it's opportunities. There are fun fights in both."

 

Ultimately, Bader says his decision will be based on opportunity as much as any financial concerns.

Of course, Bader wants to get paid during free agency because he's got a family to support but more than anything he wants the chance to compete against the best in the world with a championship on the line.

"It's not all about the money. That's not it at all," Bader explained. "I've spent almost 10 years in the UFC and went through 'The Ultimate Fighter' and had 20 fights in the UFC, which not a lot of people do. The UFC is special to me but there has to be opportunity there.

"I can't keep doing the same stuff and get pushed back. Opportunity is all you need. There have been times when I felt like I was passed over. I'm a competitor, I want a title. I don’t care if that's Bellator or the UFC, I just want the opportunity. That's going to be taken into account. Of course, financially it's important but it's not the biggest factor."

Bader confirmed that he has received interest from both organizations and he hopes to wrap up this process in the next few weeks so he can book a fight and get back in action sooner rather than later.

"I'd like to put everything behind me and I'm looking at that and then going full force. Whatever I decide, whatever choice I make, there's going to be no 'what if's' so I'd like to get everything done as soon as possible," Bader said. "My manager Dave Martin is working diligently on that and we're communicating with everybody and just really trying to see what's best. Not just financially but what's best for competition and getting title shots and just the whole accumulation of everything."

Bader knows that the timing of his free agency couldn't have worked out better considering how valuable he would be to either the UFC or Bellator.

Now it's just a matter of getting the right deal with the best opportunities afforded to him and then Bader will put his pen to paper so he can move forward in his career.

"For me, we're in a great spot. Now it's just really looking at everything, taking everything into account and making an educated decision," Bader said.

"It's a perfect time to be a free agent."