MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the Bellator’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for Bellator 226.
Bellator 226 takes place Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Ryan Bader (27-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA)
Staple info:
- Height: 6’2″ Age: 36 Weight: 227 lbs. Reach: 74″
- Last fight: TKO win over Fedor Emelianenko (Jan. 26, 2019)
- Camp: Power MMA (Arizona)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
+ Bellator light heavy and heavyweight champ
+ 2x Division I All-American wrestler
+ 3x Pac-10 champion
+ 12 KO victories
+ 3 submission wins
+ 10 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Good cardio and conditioning
+ Improved striking and footwork
^ Accurate left hand
+ Excellent wrestling ability
^ Explosive power-double takedown
+ Strong inside the clinch
+ Good transitional grappler
^ Solid positional awareness and rides
Cheick Kongo (30-10-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA)
Staple info:
- Height: 6’4″ Age: 44 Weight: 236 lbs. Reach: 81″
- Last fight: Decision win over Vitaly Minakov(Feb. 16, 2019)
- Camp: HB Ultimate Training Center (California)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
- Risk management: Fair
Supplemental info:
+ Bellator season 9 tournament champion (heavyweight)
+ Black belt in kendo and karate
+ Multiple kickboxing accolades
+ 15 KO victories
+ 3 submission wins
+ 10 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Dangerous right hand
^ Coming forward or off the counter
+ Solid kicking acumen
^ Will shift stances to attack
+ Strong inside the clinch
+ Underrated wrestling ability
^ Offensively and defensively
+ Good ground-and-pound
Point of interest: Lefts and rights
The main event in San Jose features a heavyweight title fight between two men who, in more ways than one, have had hot hands since coming over to Bellator.
Dual champion Ryan Bader, who initially came onto the scene as a heavy-handed wrestler, has slowly evolved into a well rounded, stick-and-move stylist. Since his time spent working with striking coach Chaz Turner, we’ve seen legitimate fight-to-fight improvements in Bader’s techniques.
With a focus on opening up Bader’s hips and stance, the two-time All-American wrestler has shown to more fluidly hit and move while stringing his strikes together.
Quietly developing an active and accurate left hand, Bader has been able to bludgeon the eyes of both Phil Davis and Rashad Evans with jabs, as well as drop Fedor Emelianenko and Muhammed Lawal with authoritative left hooks en route to winning the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix. That said, I’m not sure how long Bader will be willing to stand and trade when you consider whom he’ll be across from Saturday night.
Enter Cheick Kongo.
A fighter whom Joe Rogan famously fawns over, there is much more to Kongo than just his superhero-like physique that commands the respect of his contemporaries.
Stepping onto the scene as a known kickboxing commodity, Kongo has traditionally done well from striking out of a taller striking stance. Though this striking style is not necessarily out of the ordinary when you consider the European region he hails from, I believe that Kongo’s background in karate helps him stay on balance when flicking out kicks or knees from either side. That said, it has been Kongo’s hands (particularly his right) that have been more of his go-to in the recent chapters of his career.
Keeping his right hand chambered and ready, the 44-year-old veteran has been able to make the younger bucks of the division who try and pull his card pay. And despite that seemingly being enough to give pause to the majority of his opposition, Kongo often fails to capitalize on said space or opportunities, further fueling the activity-lulling sensibilities that we’re accustomed to seeing from him.
Regardless of how these striking stanzas shakeout, each fighter – whether it be their left or right – will have sides that the other will need to respect.
Next point of interest: Wrestling tides
Point of interest: Wrestling tides
Given where the biggest disparity between these two lies on paper, I would not be surprised to see Bader remind Kongo of what the other end of the grind feels like.
The Pac-10 champion has no issue returning to his base when he needs to, which would probably be the smarter road against a threat like Kongo. Bader has an explosive power double-leg takedown that he always keeps in his back pocket and is more than capable of scoring from the clinch.
However, to Kongo’s credit, the 18-year pro has steadily improved his wrestling abilities over the years, as he offers more than competent takedown defense (especially when against the fence). Kongo is also not beyond initiating takedowns himself, as he typically looks to ground opponents near the cage to demonstrate his vaunted ground-and-pound.
Although these are all skills that I’m sure Kongo has improved upon since moving his training camp stateside, I’m not certain we’ll be able to see them if Bader is the one who is dictating positions.
An excellent positional player, Bader likes to earn control time through punishing rides that allow him to put on beatings that make some opponents look like a video game character whose operator momentarily stepped away from the controller. If Kongo fails to create scrambles, fight hands and stand, then he will be underneath an improved Bader, who appears to only be adding to his ground game under fourth-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jair Lourenco.
Next point of interest: Odds, opinion and prediction
Point of interest: Odds and opinions
As of this writing, there are no official odds for this matchup.
I suspect we’ll see Bader open up as a moderate favorite over Kongo. I just warn anyone who is looking to bet the bank against the challenger.
Kongo is quietly on an eight-fight winning streak and, regardless if you like his style or not, has a pension for playing the spoiler. In addition, It’s not like Bader is beyond getting dropped or stopped in fights, and this is at heavyweight, after all.
Still, as miraculous as the rabbits that Kongo seems to pull out of his hat are, I have a hard time relying on his laissez-faire attitude and approach to win fights, much less rounds.
Unless Bader either makes the mistake of standing too long or mismanages his pace, I ultimately have a hard time seeing Kongo win this fight. For that reason, I’ll side with Bader to grind his way toward the scorecards, possibly finding a head-an-arm choke in the later rounds if he can get Kongo down away from the fence.
