After being victorious against former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 216 last Saturday, Cheick Kongo made one thing clear and one thing only: Ryan Bader must relinquish the heavyweight championship to him or suffer dire consequences.
Cheick Kongo was about as direct with reporters in the post-fight press conference as one could be when he articulated that Ryan Bader has two options: hand over the world championship or suffer bodily harm, to put in family-friendly terms. In Kongo’s mind, he has been fighting for Bellator for five years and as a professional for 18 and a half. He is 43 years old and is a man who has won eight consecutive bouts. After defeating a man who never lost the Bellator championship in Vitaly Minakov, Kongo is tired of waiting. And the sight of a man who has made a career at light heavyweight wearing a belt that Kongo did not have an opportunity to win, proved too much for him to consume.
Ryan Bader got wind of Kongo’s threat over the weekend, and issued a sharp retort for his potential next opponent via Twitter:
Hey congrats @kongo4real but you talk like that after that performance ??? There is a reason you weren’t invited into the Heavyweight Grand Prix, what’s that tell you??? I’ll let YOU know what title I decide to defend. Until then, excuse my FRENCH & f*ck off https://t.co/Npgl56H7pG
— Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) February 17, 2019
“Hey congrats @kongo4real but you talk like that after that performance ??? There is a reason you weren’t invited into the Heavyweight Grand Prix, what’s that tell you??? I’ll let YOU know what title I decide to defend. Until then, excuse my FRENCH & f*ck off”
In family-friendly terms, that’s Ryan Bader requesting time to mull things over while Cheick Kongo kindly excuses himself.
What are your thoughts on this exchange between Cheick Kongo and Ryan Bader?
