Bellator 226: Bader vs Kongo will be taking place at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on the 7th of September, 2019.
Bellator 226 will be headlined by current Bellator Heavyweight Champion, Ryan Bader who is set to defend his title against Cheick Kongo in the main event of the show.
Ryan Bader's history in Bellator
At Bellator 175 in 2017, Ryan Bader was unveiled as the newest signee for the promotion and after the main event of the show, Bader entered the cage and announced he would face Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 180. However, with Lawal pulling out of the bout, Bader had to face Phil Davis in a rematch after the two initially squared off at UFC on Fox: Gustaffson vs. Johnson with Bader winning via split decision. Bader won the rematch via unanimous decision to become the new Light Heavyweight Champion.
In 2018, Bader entered the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament and in his first fight he defeated Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 199 and won the fight within 15 seconds. At Bellator 207, Bader defeated Matt Mitrione and in the final at Bellator 214, he defeated Fedor Emelianenko to win the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Championship.
Cheick Kongo's history in Bellator
Checik Kongo first moved to Bellator MMA in 2013, following his teammate Quinton Rampage Jackson. In his debut fight Kongo defeated Mark Godbeer via second round TKO. Through his Bellator career, Kongo has faced the likes of Lavar Johnson, King Mo Lawal, and Alexander Volkov among notable heavyweight fighters.
Heading into his title fight against Ryan Bader, Kongo has been undefeated in eight fights and his last fight, Kongo defeated Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 216.
Bellator 226 Match Card/Fight Card
| Weight Class | Fighter 1 | vs | Fighter 2 |
| Main Card | |||
| Heavyweight | Ryan Bader (c) | vs | Cheick Kongo |
| Featherweight | Sam Sicilia | vs | Roberto de Carvalho |
| Featherweight | Daniel Straus | vs | Derek Campos |
| Featherweight | Pat Curan | vs | Adam Borics |
| Featherweight | Emmanuel Sanchez | vs | Tywan Claxton |
| Featherweight | Gaston Bolanos | vs | Daniel Carey |
| Preliminary Card | |||
| Featherweight | John Macapa | vs | Ashleigh Grimshaw |
| Middleweight | Ivan Batinich | vs | Daniel Compton |
| Middleweight | Cornelius Savage | vs | Evan Gubera |
| Lightweight | Christopher Gonzalez | vs | Luis Vargas |
| Bantamweight | Cass Bell | vs | Isaiah Rocha |
| Middleweight | Favian Gutierrez | vs | Alan Benson |
| Women's Featherweight | Amber Leibrock | vs | Jessica Borga |
| Catchweight (140 lbs) | Peter Ishiguro | vs | Elias Anderson |
| Welterweight | James Terry | vs | Batsumberel Dagvadorj |
| Flyweight | Daniel Gonzalez | vs | Jonathan Adams |
| Lightweight | Adam Piccoloti | vs | Jacob Smith |
| Featherweight | Hyder Amil | vs | Ignacio Ortiz |
| Welterweight | Abraham Vaesau | vs | Renato Alves |
| Catchweight | Albert Gonzalez | vs | Tyson Miller |
What's the next pay-per-view after Bellator 226?
Bellator 226 will be followed up by Bellator 227 which takes place at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The event will mark Bellator's fourth ever event in their European series and will feature the likes of James Gallagher, Peter Queally, Charlie Ward, and Myles Jury among other notable names.
