Cheick Kongo (20-8-2) took another step towards being the self-proclaimed “big dick of Paris”, a title he said he would bestow upon himself should he win the Bellator title, last night as he defeated Wolfslair teammate Peter Graham (10-6) by unanimous decision.
It was the first time Graham tasted defeat in nine fighters as the Aussie went on tear defeating the likes of Eric Prindle and Aleksander Emelianenko completely changing his career around following a miserable 1-5 start. It would have been a story book ending but Kongo had other plans as he utilized his jab, clinch and even ground game to shutout Graham over the three rounds.
Kongo now awaits the winner of current champ, the 25-year-old, 6ft 7, Alexander Volkov (19-3) and fellow Russian, and undefeated fighter, Vitaly Minakov (12-0).
Also on the night 37-year-old Joe Warren (10-3) won the bantamweight tourney with a second round TKO win over Travis Marx (21-5) and “The Irish Bad Boy” Brennan Ward (9-1) continued to prove that he is a force in the middleweight division capturing the season 9 tournament also with a second round TKO win over Mikkel Parlo (11-2).
UK fighter Linton Vassell (12-3) made a successful Bellator debut defeating Matt Jones (4-6). It might not have been the explosive debut he would have wanted but he got a valuable debut win on US soil and can build on that from here!