Cheick Kongo is a French mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who fights in the Heavyweight division of Bellator.
55 Facts About Cheick Kongo
2.
Cheick Kongo was coached by Charles Joussot and Franck Ropers, the men who brought Silat to France.
3.
Cheick Kongo is a cousin of rugby star Fulgence Ouedraogo, the French back-rower.
4.
Cheick Kongo is a columnist for the French MMA magazine, Top Fight.
5.
On June 10,2001, Cheick Kongo began his professional career by knocking out Doog Ward.
6.
Cheick Kongo then followed up that win with a TKO over Dave van der Veen.
7.
Cheick Kongo then lost his third professional MMA fight to Rodney Faverus by decision.
8.
Cheick Kongo trained with Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva in the early days of Pride Fighting Championships.
9.
Cheick Kongo entered the UFC to fight Gilbert Aldana at UFC 61, whom he beat by TKO due to a doctor stoppage.
10.
Cheick Kongo followed up with a win over UFC newcomer Christian Wellisch by KO due to a knee strike, before losing to UFC newcomer Carmelo Marrero at UFC 64.
11.
Cheick Kongo fought against Heath Herring at UFC 82, losing by split decision.
12.
Cheick Kongo fought at UFC 92 on December 27,2008, where he beat former Cage Rage British Heavyweight champion Mustapha al-Turk by TKO.
13.
Cheick Kongo replaced Heath Herring on three weeks notice at UFC 99 to face the up-and-coming Cain Velasquez in the co-main event.
14.
Cheick Kongo lost to Velasquez by unanimous decision in a one-sided affair.
15.
Cheick Kongo did however, manage to drop Velasquez on two occasions with straight punches.
16.
Cheick Kongo defeated Paul Buentello on March 21,2010, at UFC Live: Vera vs Jones by submission due to elbows.
17.
Cheick Kongo was expected to face The Ultimate Fighter 10 winner Roy Nelson on July 3,2010, at UFC 116 but a back injury to Cheick Kongo has caused the cancellation of the fight.
18.
Cheick Kongo's next fight was against undefeated Travis Browne at UFC 120.
19.
Cheick Kongo repeatedly grabbed Browne's shorts and had 1 point deducted in the final round.
20.
Cheick Kongo fought Pat Barry on June 26,2011, at UFC on Versus 4.
21.
Cheick Kongo's fight against Barry became the main event since Nate Marquardt was not medically cleared for his welterweight debut against Rick Story.
22.
Visibly rocked, Cheick Kongo got back to his feet but was dropped again seconds later by another hard punch.
23.
Cheick Kongo faced Matt Mitrione on October 29,2011, at UFC 137.
24.
Cheick Kongo won the fight via unanimous decision by utilizing his reach with his jab and securing multiple takedowns.
25.
Cheick Kongo faced Mark Hunt on February 26,2012, at UFC 144.
26.
Cheick Kongo lost the fight via TKO in the first round.
27.
Cheick Kongo was expected to face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on July 21,2012, at UFC 149.
28.
Cheick Kongo faced Roy Nelson on April 27,2013, at UFC 159, they were supposed to meet before at UFC 116.
29.
Cheick Kongo lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
30.
Shortly after it was announced that Cheick's teammate Rampage Jackson was going to Bellator, it was stated that Kongo will be following his teammate.
31.
Cheick Kongo's move to Bellator was official on August 28,2013.
32.
Cheick Kongo made his debut in the Season 9 Heavyweight tournament.
33.
Cheick Kongo faced Mark Godbeer on October 4,2013, at Bellator 102.
34.
Cheick Kongo was then expected to face Vinicius Queiroz in the tournament finals, on November 2,2013, at Bellator 106.
35.
Cheick Kongo faced undefeated Bellator Heavyweight Champion Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 115 on April 4,2014.
36.
Cheick Kongo faced Eric Smith at Bellator 120 on May 17,2014.
37.
Cheick Kongo won the fight via TKO by way of knees and punches at 4:35 of Round 2.
38.
Cheick Kongo faced fellow striker Lavar Johnson at Bellator 123 on September 5,2014.
39.
Cheick Kongo won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
40.
Cheick Kongo faced King Mo Lawal at Bellator 134: The British Invasion on February 27,2015.
41.
Cheick Kongo faced former Bellator Heavyweight Champion Alexander Volkov on June 26,2015, at Bellator 139.
42.
Cheick Kongo faced Vinicius Queiroz at Bellator 150 on February 26,2016.
43.
Cheick Kongo faced Tony Johnson at Bellator 161 on September 16,2016.
44.
Cheick Kongo faced former training partner Oli Thompson at Bellator 172 on February 18,2017.
45.
Cheick Kongo faced Augusto Sakai at Bellator 179 on May 19,2017.
46.
Cheick Kongo won the fight via knockout in the first round.
47.
Cheick Kongo faced Timothy Johnson on October 13,2018, at Bellator 208.
48.
Cheick Kongo won the fight by knockout in the first round.
49.
Cheick Kongo faced Vitaly Minakov for a second time on February 16,2019, at Bellator 216 He won the fight by unanimous decision.
50.
On July 11,2019, it was announced that Cheick Kongo will be facing Ryan Bader for the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship on September 7 at Bellator 226.
51.
On May 4,2020, it was revealed that Cheick Kongo had signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator.
52.
On October 10,2020, Cheick Kongo fought in a rematch Timothy Johnson at Bellator 248 in Paris, France.
53.
Cheick Kongo faced Sergei Kharitonov on August 20,2021, at Bellator 265.
54.
Cheick Kongo won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round two.
55.
Cheick Kongo faced Ryan Bader for the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship on May 6,2022, at Bellator 280.