By The Numbers: Ryan Bader vs. Valentin Moldavsky

Ryan Bader and Valentin Moldavsky both own a piece of the Bellator MMA heavyweight championship. Their setup changes in a matter of days.

The two men will unify the heavyweight crown when they collide in the Bellator 273 headliner on Saturday at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Bader enters the cage as the incumbent champion, having lost two of his past three fights. He last appeared at Bellator 268, where he succumbed to punches from “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner Corey Anderson in the first round of their light heavyweight grand prix semifinal on Oct. 16. Moldavsky steps to the plate as the interim titleholder, having rattled off six straight victories. He last competed on June 25, when he laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Timothy Johnson in the Bellator 261 main event.

As Bader and Moldavsky move ever closer to their confrontation, a look a some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

38: Years of age for Bader, who was born in Reno, Nevada, on June 7, 1983.

12: Bader victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 43% of his career total (28). His list of victims includes Fedor Emelianenko, Muhammed Lawal, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ilir Latifi and Keith Jardine. Bader owns three other victories by submission and 13 more by decision.

10: First-round finishes on the Bader resume, highlighted by his 15-second technical knockout of Lawal in the Bellator 199 main event on May 12, 2018.

15: Consecutive calendar years in which Bader has fought at least once. He went 6-0 in 2007, 2-0 in 2008, 2-0 in 2009, 2-0 in 2010, 1-2 in 2011, 1-1 in 2012, 2-1 in 2013, 2-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2015, 2-1 in 2016, 2-0 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 1-0 with one no contest in 2019, 0-1 in 2020 and 1-1 in 2021.

.783: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Anderson, Vadim Nemkov, Anthony Johnson, Glover Teixeira, Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz and Jon Jones—who have defeated Bader. They boast a combined record of 159-44.

29: Years of age for Moldavsky, who was born on Feb. 6, 1992 in Novopskov, Ukraine.

7: Moldavsky wins by decision, accounting for 64% of his career total (11). The list of those he has outpointed: Johnson, Roy Nelson, Javy Ayala, Linton Vassell, Carl Seumanutafa, Szymon Bajor and Karl Albrektsson. Moldavsky holds one other win by knockout or technical knockout—he put away Ernest James with punches in the first round of their Bellator 202 pairing in July 2018—and three more by submission.

47: Seconds needed for Moldavsky to submit Daniel Doerrer with a guillotine choke at a Fight Nights Global show on June 17, 2016. Having occurred nearly six years ago, it remains the fastest finish of his 12-fight career.

3: Countries in which Moldavsky has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 6-0 in the United States, 3-1 in Japan and 2-0 in his native Russia.

1,855: Days since Moldavsky suffered his only professional setback. He wound up on the wrong side of a split decision against Amir Aliakbari in the semifinals of the Rizin Fighting Federation openweight grand prix at Rizin 4 on Dec. 31, 2016. Moldavsky has countered the loss with six straight wins.