Bellator MMA Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader is expected to defend the gold against Cheick Kongo later this year.
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett recently signed a deal with Bellator MMA and the fighter will get a crack at heavyweight gold in his promotional debut according to Bellator MMA President Scott Coker.
“Ryan will stay at heavyweight for his next fight and he will fight the No. 1 contender that is Cheick Kongo,” Coker told ESPN. “That fight will probably happen in the fall, or late summertime something like August or September. That fight will happen and then Josh will probably fight the winner of the two.”
Barnett hasn’t competed in almost three years, with his last bout happening at UFC Fight Night 93 in September of 2016, where he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski.
Bader is also the current Bellator MMA Light Heavyweight Champion, meaning a title defense in that weight class could put a potential bout against Barnett on the back burner for quite some time..
If Barnett gets the title shot and does win the gold, it would make him the first fighter in MMA history to hold the heavyweight gold in both Bellator MMA and the UFC.
