Cheick Kongo Blasts ‘Dirty’ Ryan Bader: ‘I’m Here to Erase Him’

Cheick Kongo is a few months away from becoming the oldest title contender in Bellator MMA history. Former Bellator heavyweight tournament winner Kongo (31-11-2, 13-3 Bellator) obtained a new title shot against divisional champion Ryan Bader. The pair will meet in Paris, France, in a rematch of their Bellator 226 clash that ended with a disappointing no-contest following an accidental eye poke from Bader. The 46-year-old Kongo asked for many months for a rematch, but was granted one only after submitting Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 265 and after Bader’s stint in the 205-pound division ended.

Kongo was cageside during Bader’s latest victory, a heavyweight title unification bout against Valentin Moldavsky. After the judges crowned Bader as the undisputed heavyweight champion, Kongo had the chance to square off with his foe in the center of the cage. The Frenchman had a few words for “Darth,” and they weren’t pleasant.

“I said, ‘Karma is a bitch, I was really impressed about your fight, you did really good, but you better be ready and better do the same thing because I’m going to f**k you up. I’m going to f**k you up, I’m going to smash you.’ When we were about to leave, I told him, ‘Just be ready because I’m about to kill you in France.’”

Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Kongo still believes that Bader’s move in their clash went inches from leaving significant after-effects on his vision. He also didn’t appreciate Bader’s move down to the light heavyweight division, which held up the heavyweight title for two years. According to Kongo, that was too long.

“The way he poked me, it almost cost one of my eyes,” Kongo told Sherdog. “I didn’t get paid to lose my eyes. You’re supposed to be a fighter? Act as a fighter but not a dirty fighter. Just act as the champ. You are the champ. You’re an ethical guy, just act as one of those. He decided to do the s**tty move. He knows what he did. Now, he just tried to be like, ‘No, at the end I just poked him in the nose.’ Technically, the rules said if you poke any opponent in any orifice, you get disqualified. That’s one of the rules of MMA. For some reason, he got saved. If you know what it is by your shitty move, you should pay the price. Hey, get back on the track to make it again just to avenge or clarify the situation. But no, he decided to hide in the light heavyweight division and secure his position there, but he got kicked out. He got messed up in the fight with the Russian [Nemkov] who mauled him. After that, he tried to resurrect during the tournament, but he got raped. Now, he got this reservation with the heavyweight title. The thing is, I just want to erase him, making sure that the time when he used to the crowned was fake. He was like an imposter. He didn’t deserve it.”

Kongo also discussed the importance of MMA being officially recognized in France, shared his thoughts on headlining the first Bellator event in his home country, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(01:05) Living in Texas
(02:00) Bellator returning to Paris
(04:34) Headlining the first Bellator show in Paris
(07:23) Fighting in the early 2000s in France
(10:38) His thoughts on the first clash with Bader
(13:17) Commenting on Bader’s victory over Moldavsky
(14:50) What he told Bader when they squared off in the Bellator cage
(18:30) Whether there is any animosity between them
(25:00) His secret for eternal youth
(27:37) Greetings in English
(28:29) Greetings in French
(29:21) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.