Last week it was Alexander Shlemenko stealing the show in the Bellator cage and this Friday another Russian stoundout looks to do the same.
Undefeated Vitaly Minakov (13-0) makes the first defence of his heavyweight championship in the main event of Bellator 115, against Season 9 tournament winner Cheick Kongo (20-8-2). For Minakov, it’s an opportunity to make a name for himself should he emerge victorious against a veteran who spent seven years with the UFC.
The Russian sambo world champion burst onto the MMA scene in 2010 and racked up nine straight wins before making his Bellator debut in 2012. He would enter and eventually win the 2013 Summer Series tournament, knocking out Ron Sparks and Ryan Martinez. Winning the tournament earned him a matchup with then heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov at Bellator 108. Despite the champion coming into the bout on a 10-fight win streak, Minakov finished his elder foe in first round and subsequently took home heavyweight gold. Friday’s championship matchup marks the first time since Eddie Alvarez fought Roger Huerta at Bellator 33 that a homegrown Bellator fighter headlines against an established UFC veteran.
Like Minakov, France’s Kongo also won a Bellator heavyweight tournament last year, taking the crown as the Season 9 champion. This capped off a whirlwind of a 2013 for the 38-year-old, which saw him knocked out for the second time in three fights against Roy Nelson at UFC 159, turning down a rumored four-fight offer from the UFC and signing with Bellator. With a win Friday night, the Wolfslair fighter would finally add a major championship to his 30-fight resume.
Through 13 bouts, Minakov has only gone the distance once and has eight knockouts to his credit. While Kongo has 11 knockouts in 20 career victories so no doubt fans can expect a standup affair. Arguably Kongo is the better striker, but Minakov is the better wrestler. The big question for Kongo is: have those knockout losses to Nelson and Mark Hunt diminished the durability of his chin? If Minakov can land some power shots on the inside, it could be a short night for Kongo.
This heavyweight championship matchup is one of those win-win situations for Bellator. Should the 25-year-old Minakov defeat Kongo, this would situate the Russian nicely in the heavyweight rankings and show critics that he’s a legitimate prospect by taking out a former UFC fighter. If Kongo ends up the victor, Bellator would have a well-known champion in their organization and would mark the first time a former UFC fighter becomes a titleholder in Bellator.
With how thin the heavyweight picture is outside the UFC, the winner of this matchup could be a Bellator champion for quite some time.
