PHOENIX – Bellator is heading back to Paris with the heavyweight title on the line.
After Ryan Bader’s win over Valentin Moldavsky in the Bellator 273 main event Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix, the promotion announced Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) will defend his belt against Cheick Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) in Kongo’s home city. The card will take place May 6, Bellator officials announced following Saturday’s event.
Kongo was cageside in Phoenix and was brought into the cage for a brief and civil faceoff with Bader just moments after Bader’s grinding 25-minute win.
Kongo had a shot at the heavyweight title in September 2019 against Bader, but the fight ended in a no contest after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye and the Frenchman was unable to continue.
When Kongo fought at Bellator’s first event in Paris in October 2020, he was upset by Tim Johnson with a split decision, which put his title hopes on hold. But against Sergei Kharitonov in August 2021, Kongo picked up his first submission win in nearly seven years. Now he’ll have another crack at the belt.
Bader’s win over Moldavsky on Saturday was his first fight at heavyweight since the first Kongo bout. After that, he was entrenched at light heavyweight, a division in which he also held a Bellator title until a loss to Vadim Nemkov in 2020.
