Bellator’s Ryan Bader, Gegard Mousasi Want Redemption Against New Signee Lyoto Machida

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has only just signed a deal with Bellator MMA and he already has two current champions eyeing a shot at him.

Machida ended his 11-year career with the UFC on Friday and signed a multi-fight deal with rival promotion Bellator. President Scott Coker has said his new signing Machida could fight in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, which could set up some intriguing matchups, particularly considering Machida holds wins over the both of the division’s current champions in Gegard Mousasi and Ryan Bader.

Bader holds the light heavyweight belt, but is currently participating as a heavyweight as part of the Bellator Grand Prix. “Darth” suffered a second-round knockout loss to “The Dragon” back in August 2012 at UFC on FOX 4. Bader said he’d like to avenge his loss to Machida once he finishes his tournament run.

“Of course I’d like to fight him again,” Bader told MMAjunkie. “(I) respect the hell out of him, but you always want to get those losses back. I’m a totally different fighter than I was back then.”

Mousasi is the middleweight champion and lost to Machida via a unanimous decision back in February 2014 at UFC Fight Night 36. Mousasi has been vocal about the fight, with Machida claiming the Brazilian had “cheated” by greasing himself up for the fight.

Mousasi is also currently tied up with previous commitments in Bellator with the recent announcement he’ll be taking on another former UFC fighter in Rory MacDonald on Sept. 29.

“Welcome (to Bellator), Lyoto,” Mousasi said. “I will be watching his fights as a future potential opponent.”