This weekend in MMA: Bellator 214 to be headlined by wrestlers Ryan Bader and Aaron Pico
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by JD Rader, USA Wrestling
If you want to take a break from all of the NCAA and international wrestling going on this weekend but still want to be entertained by combat sports, there’s also some MMA fights taking place.
Bellator 214 is going down Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. with several prominent former wrestlers stepping into the cage.
In the main event of the evening, former Arizona State wrestler and current Bellator light heavyweight titleholder, Ryan Bader is taking on Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko for the Bellator heavyweight title. Before attending Arizona State, Bader was a two-time state champion for Robert McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada. Once at Arizona State, Bader became a three-time Pac-10 champion, winning titles in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He was also a two-time All-American placing fourth in 2004 and seventh in 2006.
Bader began immediately training MMA upon finishing his college wrestling career and has had great success. He competed in the UFC from 2009 – 2016 before moving over to Bellator. Bader boasts a 26-5 record with wins over Keith Jardine, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, and Matt Mitrione.
The co-main event of the evening will feature past USA Wrestling standout Aaron Pico, who battles Henry Corrales in featherweight action. Corrales has a 16-3 record.
Pico, who is now one of the greatest prospects in MMA, was one of the best youth wrestlers in U.S. history. In 2013, Pico won a Cadet World title. He then proceeded to take home silver in 2014 at the Junior World Championships, only losing to 2016 Olympic Gold medal winner Hassan Yazdani of Iran in the finals. In 2015, Pico earned a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships, losing to Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan in the semifinals. In the 2016 Olympic trials Pico made it to the finals of the 65 kg bracket before falling to Frank Molinaro 4-2, 4-3, 4-4.
Since losing his MMA debut via Submission at Bellator 180 in June of 2017, Pico has gone 4-0 with all of his wins coming by KO/TKO.
Pico has stayed in the wrestling discussion by stating he’s not ruling out a run at the 2020 Olympics. He once again stirred up rumors on January 10th via an Instagram post with a caption replying to his wrestling coach, Valentin Kalika, saying, “We’ve won many battles together. We are not finished coach.”
In the fight directly before Pico will be former University of Oklahoma wrestler Jake Hager. Hager was a state champion at Perry High School in Oklahoma before attending the University of Oklahoma. Once in college, Hager became a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-American honors as a senior by placing seventh in the 285-pound bracket.
After his senior year in 2006, Hager got into professional wrestling. Going under the name “Jake Swagger,” Hager became a WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
This will be Hager’s MMA debut.
In the second fight on the main card of the evening will be former wrestler Juan Archuleta. After placing twice in the California State Championships, Archuleta became a two-time California Community College champion at 141 pounds for Sacramento City Community College. Archuleta then transferred to Purdue University where he competed for the Boilermakers from 2008 – 2011.
Archuleta is now 21-1 inside the cage with 10 KOs/TKOs, 10 decision victories, and 1 submission.
Fighting on the prelims Saturday night will be prominent Greco-Roman wrestler Chris Gonzalez. In high school Gonzalez was a two-time All-American at Fargo before continuing to compete at Northern Michigan University. In 2016, Gonzalez made a Senior World team by placing first in the Non-Olympic Weight U.S. World Team Trials at 71 kg, defeating Pat Smith in the process. After placing second in the 2017 World Team Trials, Gonzalez made the transition to MMA.
Gonzalez is now 2-0 in MMA and will be making his Bellator debut Saturday.
The Bellator 214 main card will start at 9 pm ET and can be watched on either the Paramount Network or DAZN, a global live sports streaming service. The prelims will start at 7 pm ET and can be streamed on the Bellator website and the Bellator MMA mobile app.
Results from last weekend
Wrestling proved its value once again this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 143. Fighters with wrestling backgrounds went a combined 4 - 2 with the two loses occurring in bouts between two wrestlers.
In a highly touted battle for the UFC flyweight belt, 2008 55kg Olympic champion Henry Cejudo defeated 3x NCAA Qualifier for Cal State Fullerton TJ Dillashaw. Cejudo was able to win by TKO in just 32 seconds of the first round.
In another bout between former wrestlers, Dennis Bermudez defeated Te Edwards by decision. Bermudez, a former Bloomsburg University wrestler, decided to retire in the octagon after his victory over Edwards, a former NCAA qualifier for both Arizona State and Old Dominion University.
D1 National champion and 4X All-American for Edinboro University, Gregor Gillespie, defeated Yancey Medeiros by TKO in the second round to improve to 13-0 in MMA.
On the early prelims of the fight card, former D2 wrestler for Fort Hays State University, Chance Rencountre, used his wrestling to take down Kyle Stewart and then secure a rear naked choke hold to win by submission in the first round.
Bellator 214 is going down Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. with several prominent former wrestlers stepping into the cage.
In the main event of the evening, former Arizona State wrestler and current Bellator light heavyweight titleholder, Ryan Bader is taking on Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko for the Bellator heavyweight title. Before attending Arizona State, Bader was a two-time state champion for Robert McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada. Once at Arizona State, Bader became a three-time Pac-10 champion, winning titles in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He was also a two-time All-American placing fourth in 2004 and seventh in 2006.
Bader began immediately training MMA upon finishing his college wrestling career and has had great success. He competed in the UFC from 2009 – 2016 before moving over to Bellator. Bader boasts a 26-5 record with wins over Keith Jardine, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, and Matt Mitrione.
The co-main event of the evening will feature past USA Wrestling standout Aaron Pico, who battles Henry Corrales in featherweight action. Corrales has a 16-3 record.
Pico, who is now one of the greatest prospects in MMA, was one of the best youth wrestlers in U.S. history. In 2013, Pico won a Cadet World title. He then proceeded to take home silver in 2014 at the Junior World Championships, only losing to 2016 Olympic Gold medal winner Hassan Yazdani of Iran in the finals. In 2015, Pico earned a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships, losing to Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan in the semifinals. In the 2016 Olympic trials Pico made it to the finals of the 65 kg bracket before falling to Frank Molinaro 4-2, 4-3, 4-4.
Since losing his MMA debut via Submission at Bellator 180 in June of 2017, Pico has gone 4-0 with all of his wins coming by KO/TKO.
Pico has stayed in the wrestling discussion by stating he’s not ruling out a run at the 2020 Olympics. He once again stirred up rumors on January 10th via an Instagram post with a caption replying to his wrestling coach, Valentin Kalika, saying, “We’ve won many battles together. We are not finished coach.”
In the fight directly before Pico will be former University of Oklahoma wrestler Jake Hager. Hager was a state champion at Perry High School in Oklahoma before attending the University of Oklahoma. Once in college, Hager became a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-American honors as a senior by placing seventh in the 285-pound bracket.
After his senior year in 2006, Hager got into professional wrestling. Going under the name “Jake Swagger,” Hager became a WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
This will be Hager’s MMA debut.
In the second fight on the main card of the evening will be former wrestler Juan Archuleta. After placing twice in the California State Championships, Archuleta became a two-time California Community College champion at 141 pounds for Sacramento City Community College. Archuleta then transferred to Purdue University where he competed for the Boilermakers from 2008 – 2011.
Archuleta is now 21-1 inside the cage with 10 KOs/TKOs, 10 decision victories, and 1 submission.
Fighting on the prelims Saturday night will be prominent Greco-Roman wrestler Chris Gonzalez. In high school Gonzalez was a two-time All-American at Fargo before continuing to compete at Northern Michigan University. In 2016, Gonzalez made a Senior World team by placing first in the Non-Olympic Weight U.S. World Team Trials at 71 kg, defeating Pat Smith in the process. After placing second in the 2017 World Team Trials, Gonzalez made the transition to MMA.
Gonzalez is now 2-0 in MMA and will be making his Bellator debut Saturday.
The Bellator 214 main card will start at 9 pm ET and can be watched on either the Paramount Network or DAZN, a global live sports streaming service. The prelims will start at 7 pm ET and can be streamed on the Bellator website and the Bellator MMA mobile app.
Results from last weekend
Wrestling proved its value once again this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 143. Fighters with wrestling backgrounds went a combined 4 - 2 with the two loses occurring in bouts between two wrestlers.
In a highly touted battle for the UFC flyweight belt, 2008 55kg Olympic champion Henry Cejudo defeated 3x NCAA Qualifier for Cal State Fullerton TJ Dillashaw. Cejudo was able to win by TKO in just 32 seconds of the first round.
In another bout between former wrestlers, Dennis Bermudez defeated Te Edwards by decision. Bermudez, a former Bloomsburg University wrestler, decided to retire in the octagon after his victory over Edwards, a former NCAA qualifier for both Arizona State and Old Dominion University.
D1 National champion and 4X All-American for Edinboro University, Gregor Gillespie, defeated Yancey Medeiros by TKO in the second round to improve to 13-0 in MMA.
On the early prelims of the fight card, former D2 wrestler for Fort Hays State University, Chance Rencountre, used his wrestling to take down Kyle Stewart and then secure a rear naked choke hold to win by submission in the first round.
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