Mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko just put on a dominant performance over Frank Mir, earning the fighter a first round knockout victor at Bellator 198. With that in mind, Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader believes Chael Sonnen may be able to easily beat the heavyweight legend.
With Frank Mir now out of the brackets, Emelianenko is set to face off against Chael Sonnen in the semi-finals of the Bellator heavyweight tournament grand prix that is set to determine the heavyweight champion of the promotion. Speaking to Submission Radio, fellow tournament member Ryan Bader revealed that he believes Sonnen may be able to use his wrestling to his advantage against the Sambo veteran.
“Yeah, it was pretty funny. Fedor just kinda shut him down. Chael did one of his corny poems or whatever he does there and Fedor really wasn’t having it. So, Chael’s gonna do that and I think it’s good if he can get people watching. And that’s an intriguing match-up.”
“Chael can definitely go out there and beat him. It’s one of those fights that’s a toss-up. Fedor can go out there and look good and knock him out, or Chael can take him down and dominate him in that wrestling department.
“I think it’s a toss-up, ‘cause people always underestimate Chael. He’ll talk a lot and do all that, but he does have the tools to win. Look back to his fights with guys like Shogun, where he does have a good guillotine also and he can take people down. He has decent striking where he can keep you at distance like he did with Rampage, and then pick his shots where he can take you down.
“He doesn’t necessarily have to take you down and pass and try to submit you, he’s gonna take you down, he’s gonna just be on top of you, he’s got that good control. He doesn’t have to do much damage. You know, it’s a three-round fight also. You gotta take that into account. So, he can take him down and hold him down for three rounds and win the fight and move onto the finals.”
