And he tells Spencer Lazara he can think of three guys that need a fight to help that along:
"I want to be in there, just kind of waiting on who I'm fight, really, there's nothing else to it. Hopefully I'll know in a couple of weeks but I want to get back in there and get going and kind of scratch the last fight out of my mind. Get hardcore training going again and have somebody to look forward to fighting. ... I want to fight whoever the top guys are. The guys that are out there right now that don't really have fights are Franklin, Tito and Bonnar. Any one of them, it doesn't matter to me."
It's now been just over a month since Ryan Bader's first career defeat at the hands of light heavyweight number one contender Jon Jones at UFC 126, and he's getting a bit restless. Although he lost to "Bones" by way of submission, "Darth" came out of the fight healthy and ready to jump right back in the cage. But against who? Well, he's got three specific guys in mind. Behind door number one is Rich Franklin, a former middleweight champion who most recently lost to Forrest Griffin and is reportedly weighing his career options. Behind door number two is Tito Ortiz, who was slated to square off against Antonio Rogerio Nogueria at UFC Fight Night 24 before being forced to pull out with an injury. "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" hasn't won a fight since 2006 but has recently stated he has no interest in a potential fight against Bader. Finally, behind door number three is Stephan Bonnar, he of Ultimate Fighter fame, who is currently riding a two-fight winning streak. So what'll it be, Maniacs? Uno, dos or tres?