Check out the 12 longest reaches in UFC history – with a newcomer set to break the record by 2.5 inches.
As much as skill and technique play into how MMA fights unfold, intangibles can present insurmountable obstacles for even the most well-equipped combatant.
Long reaches, and how a fighter utilizes them, can pose a myriad of problems for opponents when they struggled to get inside. In UFC history, few fighters’ biological builds have surpassed 80 inches – and fewer have creeped toward 90 inches. But it’s happened.
At Saturday’s UFC 299, the all-time record for the longest reach will be broken – by 2.5 inches.
The 12 fighters have a combined professional MMA record of 210-74-2, including a combined UFC record of 85-47.
Check out the dozen fighters listed below who were able to touch up their opponents with punches from a farther distance than any others in history, using data from database Tapology.
It was “uneventful,” but Ryan Bader got the job done in his rematch with Cheick Kongo.
Here’s the good news: There was no controversy this time between [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] and [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag]. The bad news? Their Bellator 280 headliner was anything but spectacular.
Not that it should matter to Bader, though, as the heavyweight champion repeatedly took down Kongo to grind out a unanimous decision win Friday at Accor Arena in Paris. Bader retained his title with a clean sweep of 50-45 scores from the judges.
The formula was simple for Bader: wrestling, wrestling, wrestling, and more wrestling.
Each round mirrored the previous one, with Bader shooting in for an early take down, getting it, and laying on Kongo against the cage.
“I didn’t want the fight to go like that. I wanted the finish,” said Bader, who added that he was ailed by a stomach bug. “… Kind of an uneventful fight. I didn’t want it to go that way, but I got the win.”
The fight was disappointing for the Parisian fans who came out hoping to see the Frenchman Kongo make history as the oldest first-time champion in MMA history. But it wasn’t to be, as he had no answer for Bader’s grappling.
The rematch between Bader (30-7 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) and Kongo (31-12-2 MMA, 13-4 BMMA) was almost three years in the making after their first fight at Bellator 226 ended in a no contest following an accidental eye poke by Bader.
After beating Kongo, Bader suggested a title fight against Linton Vassell, who’s experienced a resurgence at heavyweight, with a 4-1 record that includes a four-fight winning streak. Bader defeated Vasell by second-round TKO to retain the light heavyweight title in November 2017 at Bellator 186.
Complete Bellator 280 results:
Champ Ryan Bader def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – to retain heavyweight title
Bellator 280 takes place Friday, and you can join us for a live video stream and official results beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT).
Bellator 280 takes place Friday, and you can join us for a live video stream and official results beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT).
The event takes place at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the main event, heavyweight champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) takes on challenger and France native [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) in a rematch.
Official Bellator 280 results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
Champ Ryan Bader vs. Cheick Kongo – for heavyweight title
Check out the results from the official Bellator 280 fighter weigh-ins in Paris.
Official weigh-ins for Bellator 280 took place Thursday, and you can get all the results here.
The weigh-ins took place at the Bellator host hotel in Paris. The nearby Accor Arena hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Among those who weighed in are heavyweight champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA), who meet in the main event.
The full Bellator 280 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
Champ Ryan Bader (232.8) vs. Cheick Kongo – for heavyweight title (241.4)
Alex Polizzi (202.8) vs. Yoel Romero (204.6)
Benjamin Brander (154.6) vs. Davy Gallon (155)
Lorenz Larkin (185.6) vs. Kyle Stewart (185.6)
Gregory Babene (185.6) vs. Mike Shipman (185.8)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:30 p.m. ET)
Pedro Carvalho (145) vs. Piotr Niedzielski (145.2)
Thibault Gouti (170.8) vs. Lewis Long (170.8)
Jordan Barton (145.2) vs. Fabacary Diatta (145)
Soren Bak (159) vs. Charlie Leary (160)
Gavin Hughes (155.2) vs. Yves Landu (155.6)
Lucie Bertaud (125.2) vs. Katarzyna Sadura (125.2)
Matthieu Letho (185.8) vs. Youcef Ouabbas (185.2)
Bourama Camara (170.4) vs. Victor Verchere (169.2)
It took almost three years for Cheick Kongo to get his rematch with Ryan Bader, but the animosity has faded with time.
It took almost three years for [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] to get his rematch with [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag], but his frustration eventually faded with time.
Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) rematches Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) for the heavyweight championship in Friday’s Bellator 280 main event at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Kongo’s first meeting with Bader in September 2019 ended in a no contest, when he was accidentally poked in the eye in Round 1 and rendered unable to continue. At the time, Kongo was unhappy with the comments Bader made as indicated that he never actually poked him in the eye. But a few years later, Kongo now says there’s no bad blood between them, and it was merely disappointment that he wasn’t awarded an immediate rematch.
“It’s been a while,” Kongo said during a virtual Bellator 280 news conference Wednesday. “I didn’t have anything against him, but I was quite frustrated to not be able to explain and be here. I didn’t have the ability to express myself. … It was a big deception to be shut off.”
He continued, “I still have a bitter taste, but I’m good. Finally we make it. I didn’t have to use that long road.”
Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226 after being poked in the eye by Ryan Bader.
Kongo explains that it was Bader’s initial reaction and denial to poking him in the eye that irked him.
“It’s always been a competition,” Kongo said. “I let the trash talking and the bad blood on the side. … He didn’t do very well in the first one, and he was claiming, ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything, blah, blah, blah and recently he used to assume ‘I probably did it, but if I did, it was an accident. It wasn’t on purpose.'”
Kongo has since dropped a split decision to Timothy Johnson, followed by a submission win over Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 265, which earned him a second crack at Bader. If he beats Bader, the 46-year-old Frenchman will have the opportunity to become the oldest first-time champion in a major MMA organization.
Cheick Kongo has had his sights set on Ryan Bader ever since their first fight ended rather unceremoniously for him, to say the least.
[autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] has had his sights set on Ryan Bader ever since their first fight ended rather unceremoniously for him, to say the least.
And to hear Kongo talk about the rematch he recently booked with Bellator’s heavyweight champion, “sights set on” might be an understatement. “Has had it out for” might be more appropriate.
Kongo had a shot at the heavyweight title in September 2019 against Bader, but the fight ended in a no contest after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye and the Frenchman was unable to continue.
More than two years later, Kongo isn’t convinced the eye poke – and one in the nose – was an accident. But the incident has fueled him on the path to the rematch that was announced this past Saturday for May 6 in Paris, where Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) will get a second shot at Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) in his home city.
“It’s not about disliking people,” Kongo told MMA Junkie. “But for sure, I dislike the move he did in the previous fight. He did really good – he tried to shut me down with the punches, he tried some takedowns. For me, at that (point in the fight), I was just analyzing his game and what he could do. I read him very well, and he understood that. … When he understood that point, he was just like, ‘Shoot. I need to do some move to (get the advantage).’ After that, he poked me twice. Once was in the eyes, and after that, he tried again in the nose.”
After the no contest, which was in Bader’s first title defense after knockout out Fedor Emelianenko in 35 seconds to win the vacant belt, Bader spent time at light heavyweight rather than heavyweight. He lost his 205-pound title nearly a year after the Kongo fight. Then he went on a quest to get it back that was halted after two fights.
This past Saturday at Bellator 273, he finally returned to heavyweight and beat interim champ Valentin Moldavsky. That set up the rematch with Kongo, which Kongo said he didn’t expect to happen when he was cageside in Phoenix.
“It was a big surprise – I didn’t expect that, for sure,” Kongo said. “I was wondering what was the reason I was there for the fight. I was expecting to square off with Fedor, and I was making scenarios: ‘Is it Fedor, or is it somebody else?’ And at the end, woo! I get an announcement for the fight with the winner. … I wished Bader (would) win, and he did good, so I was really happy. I was really happy, for sure, to get the fight. But honestly the really big excitement for me is to fight Bader (again). It was like, finally. At the end, I was like, ‘Karma’s a b*tch.'”
Kongo said fighting in front of his home fans is going to be part of his motivation in the rematch. MMA was not legal in France for decades, but recently became sanctioned. Bellator put on an event in Paris in 2020, and naturally Kongo was on the bill – but was upset by Timothy Johnson in a split decision.
Winning at home is key, but so, too, will be fighting for a chance to win the title. The 46-year-old Kongo never has held a major MMA belt, and he’s been in the sport for more than 20 years.
But it seems the leader of the pack for what will motivate Kongo is another shot at Bader.
“I have no hate. I have nothing bad (to say),” Kongo said. “(But) I want to make him disappear. I’m going to make him disappear. I’m going to make him disappear. I’m the black hole, and I’m going to swallow him. That’s it. That’s it. I’m going to make him disappear, and I’m going to make a f*cking statement and legacy about that. We’ve never seen someone at my age doing things at the top of this level, and doing great things at this level. I’m the guy. Today, I’m the guy. I don’t know for how long, but I’m the guy.”
There’s a score to settle, according to Ryan Bader, and he’s not wasting any time.
PHOENIX – When[autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] stepped into the cage Saturday, ghosts of a devastating October loss still loomed large at Footprint Center.
However, Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) silenced many critics and doubters when he defeated then-interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky (11-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) via unanimous decision in a title unification bout at Bellator 273.
“It felt so good, considering the last fight,” Bader told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at a post-fight news conference. “If I were to have had a fight that I lost but it was going back-and-forth or even if we went the whole (five rounds). But the last fight was just under a minute. It was anticlimactic. To go out there and have an exciting, heavyweight championship five-rounder with a tough, tough dude in Arizona? I wanted that bad.”
Bader, 38, admitted he checked out the betting odds prior to the fight and saw the bookmakers counted him out. That further lit a fire under the former UFC contender, who wasn’t willing to lose in front of his home crowd for the second straight fight.
“MMA is a weird, fickle sport,” Bader said. “They can look at your last fight, even though it’s big guys, small gloves, throwing at each other – the best in the world. You take one step back and people write you off. They don’t look at your body of work. It’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ I always knew I was going to feel good coming up at heavyweight. This is where I wanted to be. I saw those odds and was like, ‘Awesome. They’re counting me out. Now is the time to shut everybody up and keep this train rolling.’ Because I know I’m one of the best in the world and I can be on any given night.”
[lawrence-related id=2064343,2064341]
There wasn’t much time for Bader to breathe after the fight before his next task was laid out in front of him. Immediately after the belt was wrapped around his waist, Bader was informed by his manager, Dave Martin, that he’d be fighting[autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] in a rematch May 6 in Paris. The two squared off following the conclusion of Bader’s in-cage interview.
The first meeting between Bader and Kongo (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) took place at Bellator 226 in September 2019. The fight ended in a no contest when Bader poked Kongo in the eye inadvertently.
“I mean, unfinished business, right?” Bader said. “I always wanted to get that fight back. He was talking so much sh*t from after I poked him in the eye. I’m like, ‘Dude, there’s video of you wincing and it’s in your nose.’ Again, he came out last fight with, ‘I’ll beat your ass in Paris,’ and all this sh*t. Whatever. So, yeah, I like that fight. I’ve been asking for that fight forever. I wanted to run that back before I went down to light heavyweight. So now we get to do it.
“… I’m comfortable at this weight. I’m no longer going back-and-forth. I’m going to be even better coming in at heavyweight. Because I just fought at light heavyweight in October and then put on weight to fight in January. Now I’m a heavyweight. I can just actually get in my body.”
Bellator is heading back to Paris with the heavyweight title on the line.
PHOENIX – Bellator is heading back to Paris with the heavyweight title on the line.
After [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag]’s win over Valentin Moldavsky in the Bellator 273 main event Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix, the promotion announced Bader (29-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) will defend his belt against [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (31-11-2 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) in Kongo’s home city. The card will take place May 6, Bellator officials announced following Saturday’s event.
Kongo was cageside in Phoenix and was brought into the cage for a brief and civil faceoff with Bader just moments after Bader’s grinding 25-minute win.
Kongo had a shot at the heavyweight title in September 2019 against Bader, but the fight ended in a no contest after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye and the Frenchman was unable to continue.
When Kongo fought at Bellator’s first event in Paris in October 2020, he was upset by Tim Johnson with a split decision, which put his title hopes on hold. But against Sergei Kharitonov in August 2021, Kongo picked up his first submission win in nearly seven years. Now he’ll have another crack at the belt.
Bader’s win over Moldavsky on Saturday was his first fight at heavyweight since the first Kongo bout. After that, he was entrenched at light heavyweight, a division in which he also held a Bellator title until a loss to Vadim Nemkov in 2020.
Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC on ESPN 29, Bellator 265 and 2021 PFL Playoffs 2.
What mattered most in a loaded MMA weekend that included UFC on ESPN 29 in Las Vegas; Bellator 265 in Sioux Falls, S.D.; and 2021 PFL Playoffs 2 in Hollywood, Fla.? Here are a few post-fight musings …
