Fighters Only

Issue 148

December 2016

Ryan Bader’s walk-away knee KO of Ilir Latifi was as good as it gets

If anyone was going to get knocked out when Ryan Bader met Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 93, you might have expected a big right hand to be involved.

The pair of light heavyweights possess massive power and have earned 11 of their 12 combined career knockouts with their fists.

But the American and his team saw some flaws that meant the Swede could be vulnerable to head kicks. It was his chance to finally show off the striking improvements he’d told everyone about for the least few years.

But the TUF 8 winner couldn’t just come out of the traps trying to land something big. He had to figure out his timing in the first round and make sure Latifi wouldn’t get his hand raised.

“He’s a tough guy to fight and a tough guy to figure out because he’s so wild,” he tells. “He doesn’t really throw a jab. He throws hard every time. It’s hard to see if a takedown or a punch is coming when he throws everything he has into each punch.

"You don’t want to get caught with them.”

Bader was ready to strike in round two. “I was going to throw some little throwaway punches to set up my high kick as he fled out to his left, but he ducked his head.”

That only made things worse for ‘The Sledgehammer’.

Instead of a shin, he caught a knee. Bader raised his hands instantly. He knew there was no need for follow-up punches after the best strike he’s ever thrown.

“It’s great to get a knockout. To do it with a knee shows I have more than my game to just wrestling and a powerful right hand,” adds Bader. “It was nice to see the work I’ve done over the last couple of years come to fruition.”

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“Every time I was fainting or looking to go in, he would either flee out to his left or duck his head and come in and try to get a takedown. I was going to open up in the second round with more kicks.”