Former UFC fighter Cheick Kongo fights for Bellator belt against Minakov

Bellator 115 will feature a heavyweight title fight between Kongo and Minakov. Photo: Disclosure

Bellator announced that the next defense of the heavyweight belt, currently held by Vitaly Minakov, will take place on April 4, at event number 115, in the city of Reno, in the US state of Nevada.

Minakov's opponent will be former UFC fighter Cheick Kongo, who won the heavyweight tournament held at the end of last year. To guarantee the right to fight for the belt, the Frenchman beat Mark Godbeer by technical knockout in the first round of the tournament. In the final, he would face Vinícius “Spartan”, but an injury took the Brazilian out, who was replaced by Peter Graham. Kongo won the fight via judges' decision.

This will be Kongo's chance to turn things around after his dismissal from the UFC. At the end of his time in the world's leading MMA organization, he suffered two defeats in three fights, including knockouts to Mark Hunt e Roy Nelson.

Minakov, in turn, will try to maintain his unbeaten record in MMA. Victorious in all of his 13 fights, he has victories over former UFC athletes Eddie Sanchez and Brazilian Fabiano “Pega Leve” Scherner. In Bellator, the Russian won four fights, all by knockout or technical knockout.

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