Ryan Bader announces withdrawal from RIZIN debut

It’s been 19 months between fights for Ryan Bader – and his absence from the cage will continue on longer than expected.

A former Bellator champion and UFC contender, Bader (31-8) was going to make his RIZIN debut on Dec. 30 in Saitama, Japan against Alexander Soldatkin (18-4). However, Bader announced he has withdrawn from the bout due to multiple injuries to his hips and groin.

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Bader, 42, said he will undergo surgery after feeling a pop in training that led to the diagnoses of Right Sidenear-complete detachment of the right side of the pubic plate, partial tear of the left side of the pubic plate, a Grade 2 rectus abdominis strain, and a partial tear + tendinosis of the adductor longus.

“Sustained a pretty gnarly injury last week and was trying everything we could to get to the fight,” Bader wrote on Instagram. “MRI results came back and spoke to the doc and surgery is definitely needed. Headed to get surgery early next week to get on the better side of this. Was really looking forward to this one. Apologies to @rizin_pr and the Japanese fans trust me I wanted to be there! Thank you to everyone involved in setting up this opportunity. In 44 fights it’s the first one I’ve had to pull out of after starting training camp. All good here tho, going to one of the best surgeons for this and be on the healing side of this next week.”