It took almost three years for Cheick Kongo to get his rematch with Ryan Bader , but his frustration eventually faded with time. Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) rematches Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) for the heavyweight championship in Friday’s Bellator 280 main event at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. Kongo’s first meeting with Bader in September 2019 ended in a no contest , when he was accidentally poked in the eye in Round 1 and rendered unable to continue. At the time, Kongo was unhappy with the comments Bader made as indicated that he never actually poked him in the eye. But a few years later, Kongo now says there’s no bad blood between them, and it was merely disappointment that he wasn’t awarded an immediate rematch.
Read more:
Cheick Kongo: No bad blood with Ryan Bader ahead of Bellator 280 title rematch – MMA Junkie