Whether fighters gnawing at each other is your cup of tea or not, fact is: Conflict can be a powerful marketing tool. And, in a sport where results are not the only thing standing between an athlete and their success, you can’t really fault fighter for resorting to it. Still, amid all the drama, there’s something refreshing about two high-level athletes simple respecting and acknowledging each other’s skills. We got that this weekend, courtesy of UFC champ-champ Daniel Cormier and Bellator’s 205-pound champion Ryan Bader . After Bader and Fedor Emelianenko were confirmed as the finalists of Bellator’s heavyweight tournament, with their respective wins over Matt Mitrione and Chael Sonnen, Cormier took to Twitter to express why, despite his love for Emelianenko, he believed Bader would win. No doubt in my mind that @ryanbader wins this tournament.
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