From the UFC to Movie Star: Getting to Know Professional MMA Fighter and Battle Bars Investor Ryan Bader

From the UFC to Movie Star: Getting to Know Professional MMA Fighter and Battle Bars Investor Ryan Bader 

Ryan Bader has battled in front of sold-out crowds at Madison Square Garden. 

He has won The Ultimate Fighter. 

He has stood toe-to-toe with some of the world’s best MMA fighters, logging 20 career fights in the UFC. 

And he has earned Bellator titles both as a light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, the first fighter in history to hold championships in two divisions at the same time.

The 42-year-old Bader has done it all in the sport, but when it comes to a fight day, he admits: 

“I’m a mess.”

The nerves start early, long before the bright lights and the cheering crowds. He wakes up and tries to eat breakfast amidst the nerves, and then it’s basically a waiting game.

Stuck in his own thoughts, the day feels long, quiet, and heavy, with no way to speed up time. 

• “I’m sitting in my hotel room going through every different emotion in my head, and I’m like, ‘I wish it can just be here so I can get it done,’” Bader says. 

And unlike any other sport he has played, there’s the fear factor. 

• “In other sports, you’re going to lose, and that should be the extent of it. But going into a fight, you don’t know how you’re going to walk out of there. You could break something, you could get knocked out, you could be carried out,” he says.

Finally, the evening comes and it’s time to warm-up. Everything begins to shift. He starts to feel better, calmer.

And then the moment arrives—it’s time to fight—and he wonders why, after an agonizing day, he isn’t feeling more.  

• “I’m just in it,” he says. Present. Ready. 

And then comes the part Bader looks forward to most: The moment the fight is over.

• “I have been thinking about this person, this date, this night, the fight for so long. For two to three months, it’s all I have been thinking about,” he says. So getting through it comes with “a big pressure release.”

He adds: “It’s the best feeling in the world…especially if you win.”

From College Wrestler, to the UFC and Beyond

Growing up in Reno, Nevada, Bader began wrestling when he was just 7-year-old.

He also played baseball as a kid, and in High School, he got into football and earned Nevada’s Defensive Player of the Year accolades along the way. 

Bader considered playing football in college, but ultimately he was more heavily recruited as a wrestler, which led him to Arizona State University (ASU).

At ASU, Bader became a two-time All-American and a three-time Pac-10 champion. 

When he graduated, he had his mind set on law school rather than becoming an MMA fighter. Still, he began dabbling with Jiu Jitsu and “got the bug a little bit,” he said.

Shortly after that, he got a sales job, but after one year Bader realized he still had that fire inside of him to be an athlete and compete.

So in 2006, he began training and in the back of his mind, he thought he wanted to fight at least one fight. 

When 2008 rolled around, he applied to the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, which served as a potential feeder route to the UFC.

Bader won the show and was scooped up by the UFC in 2009. 

During his career in the UFC, Bader compiled an impressive record with 15 wins and just five losses, and then he turned his attention to a new league: Bellator, which was later acquired by the Professional Fighter’s League (PFL).

Bader went on to become both the Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion and the Bellator Heavyweight Champion, cementing his place in history as one of the greats.

When reflecting on the wins, and the losses, Bader admits one of the biggest challenges is how few times a year fighters get the opportunity to fight. 

So after a loss, unlike other sports, where you have another game the following weekend to redeem yourself, fighters have to wait months for their redemption.

His process after a loss is to give himself a week to “feel sorry for myself,” as he replays what he could have done better, and then it’s time to let it go.

• “But you don’t really truly move on until the next fight when you get a win,” he admitted. 

Though beating the opponent is always the main goal, Bader said, win or lose, there’s a huge level of respect between fighters.

• “A lot of people think we hate each other because we’re going out to hurt each other. But it’s just competition. I’m going to train, you’re going to train, we’re both high level and we’ll see who comes out on top,” Bader said.

He added: “There’s a mutual respect in what we do and what you have to do to get there.”

Bader and Battle Bars

In 2023, while watching some friends fight in South Dakota, Bader met Battle Bars owner Alex Witt. The two connected immediately, both on a friendship level and from a business standpoint.

• “He’s very outgoing, fun to be around, and we just connected and had some fun,” Bader said. 

As for Witt’s protein bars, Bader connected with them, too, the new Stella Blue dark chocolate espresso protein bar being his new favourite.

• “And I liked their approach to business. It fits with my brand,” Bader said.

As a result, Bader became not only an ambassador for Battle Bars, but also an investor in the company. Today, Bader remains a minority owner. 

Navigating his Next Chapter

In March, 2025, Bader parted ways with the PFL, but he isn’t ready to call himself retired.

In fact, he was hoping to fight in Japan on New Year’s Eve, but an injury in his groin area requiring surgery will prevent him from doing so. 

He admits the thought of retirement is a challenging one, as being an athlete has been his identity pretty much his entire life. 

• “I have been pushing for a goal for so long,” he said, so it’s a challenge to think about leaving that lifestyle.

In the meantime, Bader has been dabbling with a new career as an actor. Most recently, he starred alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Emily Blunt in the movie The Smashing Machine, a true story of mixed martial arts and the UFC.

Whether he will continue with show business or not, Bader isn’t sure. But he’s keeping his options open, as a fighter, an actor, and otherwise.

• “There are always opportunities, so I’ll just have to wait and see what comes,” he said, 

Right now, his immediate focus is on rehabilitating his injury. But after that, regardless of the direction his life goes, Bader is clear about one thing: Whatever comes next will be “something I’m passionate about that gives me that purpose and that drive,” he said.

He added: “I will go all in whatever I do.”