Ryan Loder, a professional MMA fighter in the United Fighter League (UFL), is set to fight in the semi-finals of the UFL Grand Prix in Mesa, Arizona on August 12. He is coming off of a win against Leon Shahbazyan in the opening round of the Grand Prix in May.
Loder, a former wrestler at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), spoke with Wisconsin Sports Heroics regarding his memories of wrestling against Wisconsin and to share his message regarding the importance of mental health awareness.
Ryan Loder Shares His Journey to Becoming a Professional Fighter and Memories vs. the Wisconsin Badgers Wrestling Team
- Knowing that Loder had previously been a wrestler, I asked him what initially drew him to the sport as a kid. He responded:
“My dad was a wrestler, and both my brothers were too. They’re five and seven years older than me, so by the time I was old enough, they were already wrestling. My mom didn’t want me to compete until I was in first grade. So I tried a lot of other sports: swimming, soccer, baseball, and bowling.
“But I loved wrestling the most. I like the challenge. It’s more like a puzzle for me.”
I then asked Loder about his experience wrestling against the Wisconsin Badgers, and if there was anything about the program that stuck out to him as a visiting athlete. It has been almost ten years since his college days, so he did not have many specific memories, but he did say:
“I remember that I lost to Travis Rutt! I remember their wrestling room was built into the football stadium; it was hot, the mats were mushy coming in.
“One thing I remember is that fans packed the stadium. IT was a really good environment for wrestling. And the fans knew wrestling, which was not common. Most people just show up to watch, but don’t know much about the sport.
“I remember how nice the people were. Midwest nice is a thing, which I also learned from going to school in Iowa.
“I got to know Rutt a little bit more because came down [to Iowa] to prepare for the US Olympic tryouts. We got to wrestle with him, like almost being on a team with him.”
Loder also talked about how he played middle linebacker in high school. His uncle is Fred Blietnikoff, who was a wide receiver on the Oakland Raiders team that lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II. Blietnikoff later won Super Bowl MVP when the Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. After his career ended, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Due to his familial connection with football, Loder also considered pursuing that sport in college. However, wrestling had his heart and he decided to focus on it solely when he committed to UNI.
How Ryan Loder Went from Wrestling to MMA
After college, Loder became an assistant wrestling coach in California. Right before his team was set to start a big tournament, COVID-19 shut down the world. As a result, Loder moved in with his brother. While living there, he started coaching wrestlers and fighters at Urijah Faber’s gym, Team Alpha Male.Of this time, Loder said,
“Since I had so much extra time, I started working with the MMA fighters to help them improve their wrestling techniques. They told me I should try an amateur MMA fight, so I trained for a year, did the fight, and I loved it.”
I then asked him, when preparing for a fight, does he have a set training routine that he follows or does he train with a particular opponent in mind. His answer was quite entertaining:
“It really depends on the fight camp. For wrestling fans, it’s more like a dual. We train for everyone. I fight about four times a year, so I train for three months before each fight. I do two months practicing a wide variety of moves, maybe some lifting.
“The month before, I focus on the ‘Okay, I’m going to fight this guy and I focus on techniques for that particular opponent.’ But with fighting it’s tough, because I’ve had 15 or 16 guys and all of a sudden they back out. We say don’t get married to your opponent because then he leaves.
“For instance, I was scheduled to fight this guy, a 5’8″ -5’9″ Olympic style wrestler from Israel. Three weeks before the fight, he gets called up to Dana White Fighter series. My new opponent was 6’2 and a striker.”
Obviously, those are two very different opponents with two very different styles. It is important for Loder to keep himself well-rounded because the opponent on his card one day may not be on the card the next.
I also asked him about any pre or post fight rituals that he has:
“I’ve been doing the same rituals and the same thing over and over again so that when the fight comes, it’s really routine for me. I jump in an ice bath, do breathing techniques. Breathing session for an hour. Meditate.
“I do walk-throughs of scenarios. It’s kind of like a chess game. My coaches give me questions and I answer with what I would want to do.
“If I’m home [after a fight], I have a roommate that cooks me a big breakfast and we just kind of sit around and hang out. I go back to drawing boards. What did I do right? What do I want to change?“The people I work with are amazing. Going to work is fun. They’re my best friends, we hang out. When you feel bad for yourself because you’re sore or tired, they remind me I could have a 9-5 sitting at a desk all day. And this is way better.”
Ryan Loder Shares His Message Regarding the Importance of Mental Health Awareness
COVID-19 did a great deal of negative things to the world, but one important thing that came out of it was that more and more people realized the importance of maintaining good mental health. Loder is a spokesperson for the Mental Health Center in San Diego. I asked him why he believed that raising awareness for mental health is such an important thing.
His answer was very emotional:
- “I grew up dyslexic and sports really helped a ton for me. So, having kids that maybe don’t believe in themselves start believing in themselves is a big part for me. Also, I think there’s a lot in being a MMA fighter. We have this persona of being the tough guy. If someone can speak up and say it’s okay to vulnerable, it’s huge. Maybe having a tough guy stand up and say that, maybe we can save someone.
“My brother is a teacher; and I introduced him to the breathing methods that I use as part of my daily routine. And he’s been teaching them to his kids in Georgetown, California. The kids he teaches come from rough homes, and he wanted to help them find ways to improve their lives.“So I introduced him to nine round breathing. If you do the whole nine rounds it takes 25 minutes. These kids loved it. They were more present in class. More relaxed. At the end of the year, a kid wrote him a note. She is a kid with bad home life. She said the breathing exercises were the only good part of her life. She was having suicidal thoughts before learning the exercises, and the breathing saved her.”
The following YouTube video is the one that Loder uses and that his brother taught to his students. Loder said it hard to get through them at first, but once you do, you will feel much better. He also said that the exercises trim his recovery time by a considerable margin.
Some Fun Facts About Ryan Loder
After such a heavy conversation, we decided to finish our interview on a lighter note. I asked him what his favorite non-fighting activity is. He said,
“I got a bunch. I’m an extreme hobbyist. During the wintertime, I go snowboarding at Tahoe. That’s my Sunday recovery activity. Wakeboarding, surfing, free diving. I got the American River right here, and I find phones, wallets, glasses. I’ve returned maybe 50 waterproof phones to people whose phones survived falling in the river.”
As one can see, Ryan Loder is all about helping people. Even in his free time, he finds ways to make a difference.
Professional fighters are constantly working out, training, and maintaining a good diet. I asked him what his favorite cheat meal is, and he said:
“Luckily, because I’m training so hard, my calorie count is around 4,000-5,000; so it’s hard to get enough food inside. So I can eat pretty much anything I want. My go-to though is my mom’s recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
Finally, I asked him if he could be famous for anything besides fighting, what would it be. “He said, I think I would be a surfer. I think they live such a cool life. Or football.”
As mentioned, Loder fights again on August 12 in Mesa, Arizona. He is 5-1 and will be facing Lajuan Davis, who is 5-0.
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