Cheick Kongo will get his rematch with Ryan Bader for the Bellator heavyweight championship, and it couldn’t have come soon enough, no matter what people think about the booking.
Kongo will challenge Bader for the title at Bellator Paris, which takes place May 6 at Accor Arena. The bout was announced immediately following Bader’s successful title defense against Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273 this past month.
The pairing first met in a title fight at Bellator 226 in September 2019, and the bout ended in a no-contest after an eye poke from Bader. It was a night Kongo has been thinking about ever since, and following his crazy submission win over Sergei Kharitonov this past August at Bellator 265, he’ll get his chance to right the wrong.
“He ran away [to light heavyweight] as a coward,” Kongo told MMA Fighting. “People are gonna be haters and say, ‘Oh, that’s not true,’ but yeah, he ran away as a coward. He always opens his mouth. He’s always talking sh*t because he has the support, but remember when he used to talk sh*t in the UFC? He got shut down right away. He talked sh*t with Daniel Cormier, and Daniel Cormier shut him down, ‘Go f*ck yourself.’ And after that, he would get quiet like a f*cking kid.
“Even if his team want to be the men because we are here in America, and even though the fight is happening in France, as a fighter I’m gonna f*ck him up. I’m gonna shut his f*cking mouth.”
Check out this fiery exclusive interview with Mike Heck, Kongo reveals when he was made aware he was getting the fight prior to the announcement at Bellator 273 and it taking place in Paris, talks what he thought of Bader’s win over Valentin Moldavsky, the bad blood between he and Bader, his side of the eye poke that stopped their first meeting, fans wanting Fedor Emelianenko to get the shot over him, and more — which you can watch in the video above.
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