MMA champ Ryan Bader hoping for better results in front of home crowd at Bellator 273

At a comfortable heavyweight with no significant weight to shed and no additional training to undertake, Ryan Bader was ready when Bellator MMA came calling for another fight.

The promotion offered the veteran fighter another bout at Phoenix's Footprint Center, close to home, after he'd fought there on Oct. 16 in Bellator 268, and it was an easy decision for Bader.

He'd lost in quick technical knockout fashion the last time he stepped into the cage at the home of the Suns, to Corey Anderson at light heavyweight that night.

"It didn't go the way we planned last fight. I definitely wanted to run it back in Arizona for sure. The Arizona crowd showed up and they did so well that Bellator called up and was like 'Hey, we can lock the Footprint Center up in January, would that be too soon?'" Bader said recently. "I said 'No, let's go. I feel healthy, I feel good. I'm at heavyweight too, so let's roll. I want another shot. I want to show the fans what I can do in the hometown, so I was excited about it."

Bader, the only fighter in Bellator history to hold both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, puts his heavyweight championship on the line in his first fight at that weight class in more than two years when he faces Valentin Moldavsky (11-1) in the main event Bellator 273 in Phoenix on Saturday, Jan. 29. Originally from Reno, Bader wrestled in college at Arizona State and stayed in the area, where he and his wife now raise a family.

Bader (28-7, 12 knockouts) said being a double champion will always be a highlight of his career, but having lost the light heavyweight title, he looks forward to being able to concentrate on just being a heavyweight. At 38 years old having fought in UFC and Bellator, Bader still enjoys training and competing, feels healthy and is not considering retirement at the moment.

He also enjoys being a friend and mentor to an up-and-coming light heavyweight, fellow Reno native and ex-Sun Devil Sullivan Cauley. Bader and Cauley train together often.

Cauley, 2-0, is on the Bellator 273 undercard in Phoenix. He and his father always kept up with Reno athletes succeeding in professional sports, and Bader was among those whose career Cauley followed.

"I was always a fan of his," Cauley said.

When Cauley got offered a wrestling scholarship by ASU, it was an easy decision to accept. Cauley said Bader heard about a wrestler from Reno at ASU, the two met at Power MMA and Fitness (now closed) and they connected.

"If you're a big guy and you wrestled at ASU, it was a no-brainer to go over to Power and train with Bader and C.V. (Cain Velasquez)," Cauley said. "I've learned a lot, not just from his mentorship and what he (Bader) says, but from how he leads by example."

Cauley, 25, looks to savor his moment under the lights at Footprint Center. He fights Ben Parrish of Mississippi.

"I'm fighting a guy who has a little bit more notoriety than the last guy I fought, so I think that's really good for me. I can kind of steal his thunder when I have a dominant win here, which I think I will," Cauley said.

As one who has been through the fighting part and business end of the sport, Bader has a lot of wisdom to share with someone like Cauley, relatively new to the fight game.

"I always tell him 'Man, you are so much further than I was at that point in my career,'" Bader said. "He's just getting better and better. I truly think he's going to be one of the stars coming out and be champ one day for sure, pretty soon here.

"He just needs some experience and all that, and the right fights to showcase him and he's going to be tough."

Cauley has overcome performance anxiety and fears of not competing like he can. He said he has used meditation to help with that.

"I trust myself to go perform like I know I can under pressure now," Cauley said. "I train so hard and my skills are so good. I compete against world class fighters in the gym all the time. I have a lot of belief in myself at this point that when I show up in competition, I'm going to be able to bring the heat."

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: MMA champ and ASU alum Ryan Bader also a mentor outside of competition