UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Ryan Bader sees double incentive in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix.

Former dual-champ Bader (27-6 MMA, 5-1 BMMA), who lost his 205-pound title to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244 in August, is on a quest to regain his belt, and it starts on Friday when he meets former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida at Bellator 256.

The initial plan was for Bader to defend his heavyweight title first, but he couldn’t resist the offer to get his light heavyweight title back. Though he has to go through the ringer to regain his throne, he said he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“Man, I can make a lot of excuses,” Bader told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “There are a lot. But at the end of the day, I got kicked in the head, you know? He (Nemkov) was throwing combinations. He was throwing a one-two, and I kept slipping to the outside. I kept doing it over and over again. In my head, I thought, ‘All right. Pick it up.’ I did go out there and take him down. I won that first round on all the judges’ scorecards after looking at that. In my head, I’m like, ‘All right, you need to pick it up. You need to start bringing the fight to him. Use your feints. Use your takedowns.’ That’s when I got kicked. I backed into the fence and he threw a beautiful combo and got me.

“Those things happen. It’s MMA. Sometimes, it’s not your night. I felt flat out there. I just felt like I wasn’t me out there, but it is what it is. He went out there and beat me on that night. For me, I could’ve called for an immediate rematch and this and that. To be able to do this in this grand prix tournament and potentially win a belt back by going through the grand prix and beating these killers that are in here, that’s the sweetest way. That was intriguing to me when they came to me with that light heavyweight (offer). Because I could’ve just gone back and stayed a heavyweight.”

The grand prix won’t just offer Bader a chance to potentially avenge his loss to Nemkov. Also featured in the tournament are Anthony Johnson and Machida, who both scored knockout wins over Bader during his UFC tenure.

So for Bader, the revenge tour starts on Friday.

“I’m a competitor,” Bader said. “I’ve always been super competitive. So any time I lose, I think about it. I stew over it for a week or something. I do let them go at the end of the day or I try to really learn from them. If you’ve ever looked throughout my career. Whenever I’ve had a loss, it’s one of those things that I build (on) and go on a great streak after. Maybe, (I’ll) rework some things or get in the right mental frame.

“I don’t necessarily look at it as a bad thing. It is what it is. In this sport, you’re going to take losses. For me, it’s do I want revenge back for the guys I lost to? Sure. I’m fighting Machida, a guy I lost to in 2012. I potentially have the ability to fight somebody I’ve lost to on the other side of the bracket: Anthony Johnson and Nemkov. It’s one of those things that’s just a little sweeter.”

To see the full interview with Bader, check out the video above.