At Bellator 226, the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix got off to a great start. Ryan Bader’s heavyweight title reign, not so much.
On Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., Bader made the first defense of his Bellator heavyweight title, but while Bader is leaving California still the champion, it didn’t come in the manner he was hoping for. In the main event of the evening, Bader put his belt on the line against the surging Cheick Kongo. Unfortunately, what started off as a fun fight ended in calamity as Bader poked Kongo in the eye while ground-and-pounding the French fighter against the fence.