Ryan Bader proved he's still got some gas left in the tank. Bader, 38, unified the heavyweight title on Saturday night in Phoenix, Arizona, with a strong decision win over interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky.
The former two-division champion picked up his first win at heavyweight since earning the title in January 2019 when he stopped Moldavsky's coach and trainer, Fedor Emelianenko to close the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. Now back in the division after a brief run at 205 pounds, Bader could be in for another run as he already has his next title defense lined up against Cheick Kongo in May in Paris.
Bader maintained his spot atop the heavyweight rankings with the win and moved to No. 6 in the Pound-for-Pound rankings.
Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor's note: CBS Sports insiders Brian Campbell and Shakiel Mahjouri are members of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (Feb. 1)
Men's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. AJ McKee | 18-0 |
2. Vadim Nemkov | 15-2 |
3. Patricio Pitbull | 32-5 |
4. Gegard Mousasi | 48-7-2 |
5. Yaroslav Amosov | 26-0 |
6. Ryan Bader | 29-7 |
7. Sergio Pettis | 22-5 |
8. Corey Anderson | 16-5 |
9. Michael Page | 20-1 |
10. Valentin Moldavsky | 11-1 |
Women's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. Cris Cyborg | 24-2 |
2. Juliana Velasquez | 12-0 |
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | 11-1 |
4. Liz Carmouche | 16-7 |
5. Denise Kielholtz | 6-3 |
6. Arlene Blencowe | 14-8 |
7. Cat Zingano | 12-4 |
8. Kana Watanabe | 10-1-1 |
9. Leah McCourt | 6-1 |
10. Leslie Smith | 12-9-1 |
Other notable results
Lightweight: Maybe the most improbable result of the night came from a former champion in multiple promotions. Benson Henderson put on an incredible performance in front of his hometown fans to upset rising contender Islam Mamedov in the co-main event. Henderson moved up three spot to No. 3 with the victory.
