Before Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader and veteran contender Cheick Kongo meet for the title tomorrow night (Sat., Sept. 7, 2019) at Bellator 226 live on DAZN from inside SAP Center in San Jose, California, the two men squared off during ceremonial weigh ins earlier today.
There’s been a good amount of trash talk between the two heavyweights leading up to the fight so it didn’t surprise many to see the weigh ins encounter turn physical. As Bader came in for the staredown Kongo quickly towered over him and ended up shoving Bader back. The Bellator heavyweight champ, who also serves as the light heavyweight titleholder, didn’t retaliate after stumbling backwards.
Check out Kongo’s shove in the above video player courtesy of Bellator MMA.
Kongo can do all the shoving he wants during the weigh ins he’s still going to have to show up tomorrow night at Bellator 226. The heavyweight veteran will have a noticeable size advantage over Bader, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be able to stop “Darth” when it matters most. After all, Bader is 5-0 in Bellator competition and coming off a scintillating knockout victory over the great Fedor Emelianenko.
MMAmania.com will deliver coverage of Bellator 226: “Bader vs. Kongo” tomorrow night, with the main card airing on DAZN at 9 p.m. ET.