Bader vs Kongo

Who won Bader vs Kongo?

Ryan Bader beat Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of Bellator 280, on Friday 6th May 2022 at Accor Arena in Paris.

The scorecards were announced as 50-45, 50-45, 50-45 in favor of the winner Ryan Bader.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 265 pounds (18.9 stone or 120.2 KG).

This contest was for the Bellator heavyweight championship.

Bader vs Kongo stats

Ryan Bader stepped into the octagon with a record of 29 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 12 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Cheick Kongo made his way to the cage with a record of 31 wins, 11 losses and 2 draws, 15 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

Ryan Bader's Bellator record stood at 9-3-0, while Cheick Kongo's came in at 13-4-0.

The stats suggested Kongo had a slight advantage in power over Bader, with a 48% knock out percentage over Bader's 41%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Kongo had a slight advantage over Bader, with a 13% submission rate over Bader's 10%.

Ryan Bader was the younger man by 8 years, at 40 years old.

Kongo had a height advantage of 2 inches over Bader. That also extended to a 8-inch reach advantage.

Bader was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 8 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2007, 5 years and 9 months later than Kongo, whose first professional fight was in 2001. He had fought 13 less professional rounds, 90 to Kongo's 103.

Bader vs Kongo form

Ryan Bader had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273 on 29th January 2022 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Heavyweight championship fight at Footprint Center, Phoenix, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Corey Anderson at Bellator 266 on 16th October 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Footprint Center, Phoenix.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Lyoto Machida at Bellator 256 on 9th April 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Before that, he had been beaten by Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244 on 21st August 2020 by knockout in the 2nd round in their Bellator Light Heavyweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

His fight against Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226 on 7th September 2019 ended in a no contest.

Kongo had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 265 on 20th August 2021 by submission in the 2nd round at Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, United States.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Timothy Johnson at Bellator 248 on 10th October 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

Going into that contest, he had been defeated by Ryan Bader at Bellator 226 on 7th September 2019 by split decision in the 1st round in their Bellator Heavyweight championship fight at SAP Center, San Jose, United States.

Before that, he was victorious against Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 216 on 16th February 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

He had won against Timothy Johnson at Bellator 208 on 13th October 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Ryan Bader had been fighting more than Cheick Kongo.

Going to this contest, Ryan Bader had last fought 2 years, 2 months and 21 days ago, while Cheick Kongo's last outing had been 2 years, 7 months and 30 days ago.

Bader's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 7 months and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

Kongo's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 6 months and 6 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Bader vs Kongo?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for Bader vs Kongo.