Ryan Bader will make his first title defense as Bellator heavyweight champion in September.
Ryan Bader looks to put a stop to Cheick Kongo’s career-best winning streak in a heavyweight title bout at Bellator 226.
As was announced on Thursday, Bader (27-5) and Kongo (30-10-2) will go toe-to-toe at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on Sept. 7. Bader enters the contest on a seven-fight winning streak, most recently knocking out Fedor Emelianenko to win the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix and the heavyweight championship belt. Kongo has won eight straight fights, the longest of his career, en route to his second title shot. The French heavyweight most recently avenged his 2014 loss to Vitaly Minakov.
The announcement of Bellator 226’s headliner means champ-champ Bader will likely go more than two years without defending his light-heavyweight belt. The American last defended his 205-pound strap with a second-round TKO of Linton Vassell in Nov. 2017.
Bellator 226 serves as the promotion’s next marquee event. Along with the championship main event, the card also boasts the start of Bellator’s 16-man Featherweight World Grand Prix.
Bellator 226: Bader vs. Kongo will stream live exclusively on DAZN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Preliminary action will stream on Bloody Elbow’s website via Bellator.com, plus DAZN and on the Bellator Mobile App.