Bellator 2022 questions – Will Bader retain? Can Amosov catch Khabib? A Fedor finale?

At first, Ryan Bader wondered if he belonged. By using a relative colossus and a stoic legend as springboards, he came to recognize he most definitely did.

The self-reflection by Bellator’s light heavyweight champion occurred as the promotion put a new challenge in front of him in 2018. Bader had been competing at 205 pounds for his entire career and owned victories over two former world champions at that weight during his eight years in the UFC. But now, he was being thrown in with the big boys.

Accepting an invitation to participate in the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix, Bader couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. He smashed Mo Lawal in just 15 seconds, but Lawal was a fellow longtime light heavyweight also competing up a weight class. So what did that win prove about Bader’s heavyweight prospects?

The semifinals presented a more sizable test. Former NFL lineman Matt Mitrione brought a 25-pound weight advantage into the cage. But the added heft didn’t prevent Bader from taking “Meathead” down early in each round and beating him up to earn a lopsided decision filled with 10-8 rounds. “That motherf—er rode me like a pony, man,” Mitrione summarized on social media.

In the Grand Prix finale, Bader needed just 35 seconds to knock out one of the greatest heavyweights ever — Fedor Emelianenko — to become Bellator’s first champ-champ.

“That tournament — all of the fights, really, but especially the final — convinced me that I definitely belonged at heavyweight,” Bader, 38, recalled recently. “I found that I’m faster than the heavyweights, and I’m just as strong.”

Bader (28-7, 1 NC) has an opportunity to prove that again on Saturday when he defends his heavyweight title against Valentin Moldavsky (11-1) in the main event of Bellator 273. The fight is in Phoenix, Bader’s adopted hometown ever since he was a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State more than 15 years ago.

Saturday represents more than just a homecoming. On fight night, it will…