Bellator 180: “Sonnen vs. Silva” goes down this Saturday night (June 24, 2017) at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., featuring Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, who will look to settle their years of verbal smack talk and threats by putting on four-once gloves and stepping inside the cage.

These two men may know each other outside the cage, but when it comes to actually having fought, Ryan Bader and Phil Davis know each other much better. Back when both were top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight contenders, Bader got the best of Davis in a very closely-contested split decision.

It may have seemed a natural to rematch the two now that Bader has jumped ship to Bellator, but initially the promotion planned for Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal to face Bader on the show. However, when Lawal pulled out with an injury, Bellator’s Plan B was for Bader to get that Davis fight right away.

Bader recently spoke with MMAmania.com about fighting “Mr. Wonderful” a second time with Bellator’s 205-pound title on the line, UFC reason(s) for not matching Bellator’s offer and much more.

“It was a great offer (from Bellator) and I don’t think they (UFC) want to open up the floodgates and pay that high, pay those terms. I did get offered a contract before my Nogueira fight to re-up my contract and we declined. We decided to fight it out knowing pretty much that it could be my last UFC fight. What we were going to ask of Bellator would be something that UFC probably wouldn’t match. It’s a flat fee, it’s a higher flat free, and it’s not something looking in the past of other contracts that they’ve done.”

At least if Bader was going to have his final fight in UFC he got to go out on an impressive win, which gives him extra momentum going forward into his Bellator career.

“(I’m on) a good roll (and) we have a new coaching staff, and that started before Nogueira’s fight. I’ve spent a bunch of time working on a ton of technique, and I see it all in training in how much better I’ve gotten — not only physically, but mentally. You know I get to fight in Madison Square Garden, get to win the belt there, so I’m extremely excited. I’m refreshed, I feel good, I feel like I’m the best fighter I’ve ever been in my career right now.”

Since Bader has one win over the current Bellator champion under his belt, he’s got a sneaking suspicion that he’ll know what to expect.

“That was a close fight then, and it’s just one of those things where I feel like I’m a totally different fighter from that fight. It’s just one of those things where I’ve only had one other rematch and that was with Nogueira. Once you’ve been in there with somebody, you kind of know what to expect. You know how strong they are, you know everything about it, and you can bring that little bit extra into that fight.”

At the same time, Bader isn’t taking for granted that Davis didn’t grow as a fighter on his road to becoming Bellator’s 205-pound king.

“Yeah, Phil’s a competitor. He didn’t just fall into being a champion. He works hard, he goes out there, and I know it’s gonna be a tough fight. I just feel like I’ve grown more than he has since the last fight. I came out with the edge and the win last fight and I feel like I’ve grown more and I’m better than I was and I’m better than him ... plain and simple. That’s what they make fights for and that’s we’re gonna be doing on June 24th is figuring and sorting that out.”

That said, Davis wasn’t the original opponent for MSG, so I asked Bader if the preparation and strategy had changed since he first got the Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal fight.

“They’re similar (but) King Mo doesn’t really throw kicks at all and Phil Davis does. Mo throws more hands and he’s more of a pressure fighter whereas Phil Davis doesn’t really like to be in that boxing zone, doesn’t really like to get hit and throw hands too much. He likes stay back and kick and parlay that into getting a takedown or clinching with it. There are similarities, but I’m looking at it as a totally different person, totally different fight. We’ve done that, we’ve studied him, my coaches have been breaking him down and we’ve been drilling things that we’re going to use and what not. A little change, but we had plenty plenty enough time.”

The biggest change aside from the striking styles, though, may be the length of the fight. Bader is more than willing to go the distance over five rounds if that’s what it takes.

“The camp is similar, but it’s a five-round fight, so we did the extra stuff needed to be prepared mentally and physically for a five-round fight and we’re good to go.”

Some fighters might be miffed to take a five-round fight on Spike TV instead of in the main event of a huge pay-per-view (PPV) card like Bellator 180, but for Bader it’s exactly the opposite.

“I like being on the TV portion. With my contract I have some TV bonuses and what not, and then this is one of the first pay per views that they’ve had and I think it’s going to do really really well. Spike is definitely a proven model, we know we’re going to get the fanfare and eyeballs there, and on top of all that I get to fight at a decent hour, and sit back in the back in Madison Square Garden with my belt, and watch the pay per view portion myself.”

One certainly can’t say Bader lacks in confidence going into MSG, so if he’s got that much time to recline and enjoy the fruits of his labor, I wanted to know which PPV fight he likes the most.

“(Michael) Chandler’s a buddy of mine, I’m looking forward to his fight. Fedor’s fighting, he’s fighting a tough guy, another one of my buddies in Mitrione. I’m definitely looking forward to watching those two fights. Then you’ve got the Sonnen and Wanderlei fight also, and there’s a ton of good fights on there that I’m definitely intrigued (about).”

Bellator MMA is hoping fight fans feel the same way this weekend. And Davis vs. Bader is the bait to hook them on ordering the PPV. Don’t miss this one!

To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.