“I said I want the easiest fight in the division,” Daniel Cormier once declared. And who was this so-called “easy fight”? Ryan Bader. What did Bader have to say about it? Well, not much. Because he didn’t even have a microphone at the time. Yes, UFC 187’s post-fight press conference was supposed to be Bader’s moment. Yet, it hasn’t. Instead, Cormier decided to throw some extra chaos into the mix.

Now, nearly a decade later, could they settle what was left unfinished? Bader’s open to it. But there’s a catch. It has to happen in the UFC. Unless, of course, GFL suddenly starts handing out contracts like a billionaire on a spending spree. “Man, that would be fun,” Bader said on Submission Radio when they pitched the idea to him.

“But something like that, why don’t you just go do it in the UFC? You know? Unless they’re throwing around crazy money in GFL. And GFL actually happens, but yeah, I’m open to stuff like that. That’s a fun fight. That’s one of those ones that kind of fell through the cracks and never got to happen. So those are the kind of ones that I’m looking for. For sure.”

So here we are, talking about a fight that was supposed to go down ages ago but got derailed by the chaos of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. And Bader, he spoke his mind. Politely. Talking to Ariel Helwani, he mentioned he saw Cormier’s path to the title as a red-carpet rollout. “We were supposed to fight two times and then he gets pulled up. More power to him.”

But the rivalry cooled off, and mutual respect grew. Yet, apparently, there’s still a ‘what if’ lingering between them.

So, is it time Daniel Cormier acknowledged the fact?

Let’s not pretend mutual respect flows intensely between these two. Back in 2015, this was a full-blown grudge. UFC Fight Night 68 was supposed to be the battleground, but when Jon Jones got himself suspended, Cormier leapfrogged into a title fight with Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson instead. Bader, left in the cold, was not exactly thrilled.

And if that wasn’t enough, the then-new champ took multiple jabs, twisting the knife. “I just wanted an easy paycheck,” Cormier said. It’s vintage UFC drama!

But despite all the back-and-forth, the fight never happened. Bader stuck around in the UFC for two more years before jumping to Bellator, where he tore everything in front of him, winning both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles. Sound familiar? It should. That’s exactly what Cormier did in the UFC.

Three to four years later, by around 2018, things had mellowed out. Bader, thriving in Bellator, even floated the idea of a cross-promotional superfight. “I think I match up well with him, especially now,” he said back then. “If I would’ve matched up with him five years ago, I don’t think I’d do all that well. I think now I beat him.”

To his credit, Cormier did acknowledge Bader’s success. “Bader is killing it in Bellator,” he admitted on X (formerly Twitter). “It would’ve been a fun one!”

Time, as it often does, smoothed things over. At some point, mutual respect replaced the trash talk. But now? Bader, now a free agent, is bringing the idea back. But under the right conditions. Daniel Cormier, now a full-time commentator, hasn’t bitten yet. He became one of the most decorated fighters in UFC history before hanging up his gloves in 2020 after back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic.

But with money talking louder than nostalgia, could this be the moment when the rivalry finally gets its due date? Or will it forever remain one of MMA’s greatest ‘what ifs’? What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!