Bellator Bolsters Heavyweight Division With Wolfsalir’s Own Cheick Kongo

Newport Beach, CA. (August 28^th, 2013) – As Bellator prepares to embark on the start of the fall season as well as November’s highly anticipated Bellator Pay-Per-View “Rampage vs. Tito”, the promotion announced today the signing of French heavyweight Cheick Kongo. The fan favorite is scheduled to make his debut this September for Bellator, and will be featured in the Season 9 Heavyweight Tournament.

“After my contract was up in the UFC, I really wanted to take some time and reflect on everything,” Kongo said. “After talking to the people around me, especially someone like my longtime friend in Rampage, he told me how well Bellator has been treating him and what we can do with Bellator, and after getting to know Bjorn Rebney, it just seemed like the right fit for me. I know I have plenty of fight left in me, and my fight in October is the first step to getting that Bellator Heavyweight Title.”

Kongo leaves the UFC with a 4-2-1 record since 2009 and holds notable victories over “Cro Cop”, Pat Berry and Matt Mitrione during his time with the UFC. As one of the most imposing yet charismatic fighters in MMA, Kongo is well aware of what is expected of him inside the Bellator cage.

“My fans mean the world to me, and I want to show them what I am capable of every time I go out and fight,” Kongo stated. “I always want to deliver a good show to whoever is watching, and that won’t change in Bellator.”

“If you’re an MMA fan, you’re a Kongo fan,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “No matter who he fights he’s always going to bring the fight and put on a great show, and he’s one of the best guys you’ll have the pleasure of dealing with in MMA. This is another example of our alliance with Wolfslair and Anthony McGann resulting in our signing an exciting, explosive fighter to our roster who fans know and love.”

Additional details on the signing along with Bellator Season 9 Heavyweight Tournament pairings will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA           

Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 135 countries, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom.  In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 150 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top mixed martial artists. Bellator’s founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes.  Bellator’s core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator’s real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator’s tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula.  Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.  Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.

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