Former two-division Bellator champ Ryan Bader explains why he parted ways with PFL

Ryan Bader has given an explanation for his PFL departure.

Bader became a free agent success after fighting out of his UFC contract back in Nov. 2016. He ended up signing a lucrative contract with Bellator MMA and made the most of the opportunity. Bader became a two-division Bellator champion and only had two losses under the promotion before the purchase from PFL.

At the moment, PFL hasn’t revealed a plan for Bellator fighters under contract.

RELATED: FORMER BELLATOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION RYAN BADER PARTS WAYS WITH THE PFL

Ryan Bader Details Decision to Leave PFL

Submission Radio recently had Ryan Bader on as a guest. The former Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight titleholder gave a reason for deciding it was best to move on from PFL (h/t MMAJunkie).

“When they acquired Bellator, and Bellator was no longer, it was like everything was up in the air,” Bader told Submission Radio. “Like, who’s the champ – this and that. Me coming as the Bellator champ, I couldn’t really fight just anybody.

“So it’s like finding an opponent and all that kind of stuff, and I didn’t know how long that would be, and I wanted to get something going sooner rather than later. So we came together and decided a release would be for the best.”

Bader then revealed he’s had discussions with his manager about a possible UFC return scenario. He admitted that it would be “cool” to retire in the UFC even if he has just one more fight for the top MMA organization. Bader said he realized the UFC might not be interested in giving him the rare one-fight deal that Jeremy Stephens has.

In his most recent outing, Bader was stopped by Renan Ferreira via TKO in 21 seconds. The loss snapped Bader’s three-fight winning streak. As he approaches the age of 42 this July, Bader believes he still has more to give to the sport of MMA.