Mere moments after a grueling win over Valentin
Moldavsky in the Bellator 273 headliner, Ryan Bader
already had his next assigment.
The California-based promotion announced on Saturday that Bader’s
next heavyweight title defense will come in a rematch against
Cheick
Kongo at Bellator Paris on May 6. The event will take place at
Accor Arena in Paris, France, and the main card will air on
Showtime. It is the second Bellator event held in France since MMA
was legalized in the country.
“Bringing Bellator to France in 2020 was one of the highlights of
my career, and I knew that it was the start of a long run of big
events in Paris,” Bellator president Scott Coker said. “Here we are
ready for our second trip to France and this time we are bringing a
heavyweight world title rematch featuring arguably the most
recognizable French mixed martial artist in our sports history.
It’s personally important to me to help grow the sport in France
and give these athletes a chance to perform on a large stage.”
Bader and Kongo initially squared off at Bellator 226 in September
2019, when their championship clash ended in a no contest after
Kongo was rendered unable to continue due to an accidental eye
poke. Since then, Bader lost his light heavyweight crown to
Vadim
Nemkov at Bellator 244 before entering the 205-pound grand
prix, where he fell to Corey
Anderson via first-round TKO in the semifinals last October.
The Power MMA team product defended the heavyweight belt for the
first time since that bout against Kongo when he outpointed
Moldavsky.
Kongo, meanwhile, has fought twice since the controversial matchup
against Bader. The 46-year-old Frenchman dropped a split verdict
against Timothy
Johnson at Bellator 248 in Paris before rebounding to submit
Sergei
Kharitonov in his most recent outing at Bellator 265. Kongo is
13-3 with one no contest during his Bellator tenure.