Bellator 214: Bader KOs Fedor In Seconds, Makes History

With just a single punch, Ryan Bader made history in more ways than one, knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in the main event of Bellator 214 to win the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix and the Bellator heavyweight title.

With the win, Bader now becomes the first Bellator fighter in history to hold two championships simultaneously. He also becomes the first since Joe Warren to win Bellator titles in two different weight classes.

The whole fight itself lasted just 35 seconds. After some feeling out, it only took one punch — an overhand left — for Bader to drop Emelianenko to the mat, knocking him out and forcing referee Mike Beltran to wave the action off.

JUST LIKE THAT!!!! 💥🤯@RyanBader with the HUGE KO against Fedor Emelianenko!#Bellator214 pic.twitter.com/7fm2XFY1zh

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) January 27, 2019

In the Grand Prix, Bader knocked out Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in 15 seconds, put on a wrestling clinic against Matt Mitrione for an easy unanimous decision and had this knockout of the legendary former PRIDE champion. Bader is now the first Bellator heavyweight champion since Vitaly Minakov was stripped of the title in 2016.

Bader did not commit to a division to compete in during his post-fight interview, rather stating he, his team and Bellator will think about what comes next.

The rest of the Bellator 214 main card also saw hard-hitting action, as Henry Corrales rebounded from getting rocked by Aaron Pico early to score a knockout of his own in just 67 seconds.

Jake Hager, the former WWE world champion better known as Jack Swagger, was successful in his pro MMA debut against J.W. Kiser. Hager took Kiser down and utilized his amateur wrestling background to eventually lock in an arm-triangle and get a first-round submission.

Juan Archuleta picked up a unanimous decision win over Ricky Bandejas, and Adel Altamimi utilized submissions and transitions in his Bellator debut, defeating Brandon McMahan.

Bellator 214 Live Results:
For the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Championship: Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Final: (light heavyweight champion) Ryan Bader def. Fedor Emelianenko via KO (Rd. 1, 0:35)
Featherweight: Henry Corrales def. Aaron Pico via KO (Rd. 1, 1:07)
Heavyweight: Jake Hager def. J.W. Kiser via submission (arm-triangle choke) (Rd. 1, 2:09)
Bantamweight: Juan Archuleta def. Ricky Bandejas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Adel Altamimi def. Brandon McMahan via submission (armbar) (Rd. 1, 1:16)