S. Coker is the president of Bellator. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Moments after confirming Ryan bader As absolute heavyweight champion (up to 120,2kg) at Bellator 273, in which he beat Valentin Moldavsky, the North American already knows who he will face in his next title defense. In a press conference after the show this Saturday (29), the company's president, Scott Coker, confirmed Cheick Kongo as the challenger, in a repeat of a confrontation held in 2019.
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“It’s a fight we’ve been wanting to do for some time. They faced each other in San José (USA) a few years ago. She ended up with a finger in her eye. It was not a clear decision. Let's do it again. (…) We have a date in Paris (France). Whoever won, Moldavsky or Bader, would face Cheick Kongo,” he said.
This weekend, Bader stepped into the Octagon for one of the biggest challenges in his Bellator career. Before the pupil of Fedor Emelianenko, the veteran went through ups and downs in the circular cage, but convinced the three side judges and won a unanimous decision.
With the result, Ryan unified the heavyweight title and continues with a Bellator title. The triumph also made the athlete return to the winners' column, as the fighter had been surpassed in the last challenge, in 2021, when he was severely beaten by Corey anderson.
Confirmed as a challenger for the belt, Kongo has not fought since August of last season. The 46-year-old fighter is coming off a victory over Sergei Kharitonov, by submission in the second round.
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