Getty Ryan Bader will meet Fedor Emelianenko in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix finals.
Ryan Bader will look to become a two-weight champion when he takes on Fedor Emelianenko in the Heavyweight Grand Prix finals at Bellator 214 in Inglewood, California.
In the United States, the prelims start at 6:30 p.m. ET and won’t be televised, while the main card starts at 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on the Paramount Network. But if you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of Fedor vs. Bader and every Bellator 214 fight via one of the following streaming services:
How to Watch Bellator 214 Online
For viewers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Brazil and Japan, every Bellator 214 fight–both the prelims and the main card–can be watched live on DAZN.
You can start a free one-month trial of DAZN right here, and you can then watch the fights live on your computer via DAZN.com, or on your phone, tablet, smart TV, Roku, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the DAZN app.
If you just want to watch the main card fights, Paramount Network is one of 43 channels included in Philo’s main bundle, which is the cheapest among all OTT streaming services if you plan on keeping it long-term.
You can start a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch the Bellator 214 main card live on your computer via the Philo website, or on your phone (iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, or or other supported device via the Philo app.
If you can’t watch live, Philo also allows you to DVR programs and watch them up to 30 days later. And even if you forget to DVR something, Philo also comes with a 72-hour rewind feature, which allows you to replay any event that has aired in the last three days.
Paramount is included in the “Comedy Extra” add-on, which can be added to either the “Sling Orange” or “Sling Blue” channel packages.
You can start a free 7-day trial of both bundles right here, and you can then watch the Bellator 214 main card on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Bellator 214 Preview
Bader, Bellator’s 35-year-old light heavyweight champion, made his heavyweight debut in the Grand Prix quarterfinals back in May. With the first punch of the bout, he sent Muhammed “King Mo” Lawall to the mat with a left hook, then followed up with a flurry of rights to the head en route to a 15-second victory.
“I just saw him duck and I knew where his head was going, so I met him with that hook,” Bader said after the win, according to the Associated Press. “I was surprised, but I thought that result was going to come at some point. I thought there would be more trading. It just happened to be the first punch.”
In the semifinals, he bested friend Matt Mitrione via unanimous decision in October.
“I obviously got f—ed up there, lost this one,” Mitrione said in an Instagram video after the Bellator 207 defeat. “I felt like in the middle of it I thought to myself, ‘It’s the perfect time for a Snickers commercial,’ because I wasn’t going anywhere for 15 minutes. That motherf—er just rode me like a pony, man. He’s a great wrestler; I’m not. He took advantage of it and did a great job.
“Great job, Bader. You whooped my ass. I didn’t quit. I didn’t look very good, but I never gave up, so I can still go home to my babies with my head held high.”
A two-time NCAA Division I All-American and a three-time Pac-12 champion while at Arizona State, Bader said his upbringing as a wrestler put him at a disadvantage when it came to marketing himself during his time in the UFC.
“We came up in that — keep your mouth shut, let your hard work do the talking, and I came into MMA like that. Back then, when I was [winning] ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ [in 2008], you didn’t see that smack talk prevailing,” Bader said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It wasn’t such a factor in who gets the next title shot. … That’s why I love doing this tournament. You enter, there’s a bunch of tough guys. You win, you move on to the finals and the winner gets the belt. It knocks off all that jockeying to get a title shot”
Emelianenko, 42, went through Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen with a pair of first-round knockouts to reach the finals. Even if he wins the title, he might never fight again after Saturday.
“To tell the truth, at my age right now, more and more I’m thinking about retiring,” Emelianenko told reporters at a Wednesday workout, according to The Telegraph.
“And it is not because I don’t want to fight. It’s definitely because of the age and all the injuries that speak. There’s been no adjustments, no changes in the training process. But it takes more time to recover.”