Cheick Kongo’s teammate Quinton “Rampage” Jackson posted a picture of his teammate’s injured eye following a disappointing conclusion to Bellator 226.
Kongo’s fight against Ryan Bader ended with a No Contest in the first round after Bader was deemed to have accidentally poked his opponent in the eye, which led to the doctor stopping the fight. Some fans and media were critical of the end to the fight, believing it may have been a punch and not a poke that injured Kongo’s eye.
After the event, Jackson took to his Instagram to post a picture of Kongo’s eye. You can take a look for yourself what it looks like.
“For all the blind people saying it was a nose poke,you don’t get the red in your eyes from getting poked in the nose 😉 I’ve been fighting for almost 20 years. I know an eye poke when i see one. (And the upper cut landed on the forehead)”
Kongo was riding an eight-fight win streak into the fight against Bader for the heavyweight title. After Kongo was left out of Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix, he really wanted to go in there and beat Bader to prove he should have been in the tournament all along. Unfortunately for Bellator, the fight ended in a No Contest.
Due to the disappointing end to the fight, Jackson stormed into the cage and confronted Bader over the eye poke. The two previously fought in the UFC back in 2012 and it appears that Jackson is angling for a rematch against his rival in the Bellator cage. It’s possible Bellator could book an immediate rematch between Kongo and Bader once his eye heals up, but if not a Jackson vs. Bader matchup would certainly be a big fight for Bellator as well.
Do you believe that Cheick Kongo was poked in the eye or are you not convinced?