A heavyweight fight may be headlining this weekend’s Bellator 172 card, but there is another heavyweight fight on the main card and that will be Cheick Kongo taking on Oli Thompson.
Kongo, who has previously challenged for the Bellator MMA Heavyweight Title, feels disrespected by his opponent.
“We spent a few years together as teammates, so the thing is, that’s pretty weird,” Kongo said to MMA Junkie. “I was just like, ‘Why?’ The thing is, we used to be teammates. I understand that you have some people to feed, but don’t be the fight. Or even if you’re going to be the fight, just call me or whatever. I’m not like the freaking people like whatever, just call out the guys and just fight. No. It’s different. It’s way different.”
Thompson is currently winless in Bellator MMA competition, dropping a fight to Matt Mitrione, who is one half of the main event at Bellator 172.
While Kongo feels disrespected by his opponent, he feels that fighting Thompson will be good for business.
“If I have to take a fight against somebody I know or I like, and we are not in conflict, for sure, I would let him know,” Kongo said. “I would say, ‘OK, you know what? I got the fight, and I picked the fight, so what is your perspective? I have to do it,’ or whatever. Whatever the reason, just say something. On the night, it will be a real physical conflict. For sure it’s going to be business, but you never know how the business will go.”
Bellator 172 takes place on Saturday, February 18 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California with Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Mitrione headlining. Fightful will be providing live coverage of the event.
