Bellator 226 results: Ryan Bader retains heavyweight title after accidental eye poke, no-contest with Cheick Kongo

Mark Lelinwalla

•
Bellator 226 results: Ryan Bader retains heavyweight title after accidental eye poke, no-contest with Cheick Kongo image

Not the finish Ryan Bader was expecting, but the double champion leaves San Jose, Calif. with both of his titles intact.

The Bellator 226 main event ended in anticlimactic fashion Saturday night at the SAP Center, and live on DAZN, after Bader accidentally poked Cheick Kongo in the left eye during the first round, leading toward a no-contest.

Join DAZN and watch more than 100 fight nights a year

"It sucks for it to end like that," a disappointed Bader said in the cage following the no-contest. 

Bader was thoroughly dominating the action prior to the accidental eye poke. He started the fight by nailing Kongo with three crisp left hands, before taking down the larger challenger, assuming the mount position and pouring on the pain with some more stinging shots.

"Every shot I was hitting him with was hurting him," Bader said.

The end came when Bader had Kongo down on the ground against the cage and blasted him with a short uppercut, before inadvertently poking him in the eye.

"It was unintentional," Bader insisted of the eye poke following the no-contest ruling.

Kongo's left eye instantly started to swell, he couldn't see out of it and thus couldn't continue fighting.

Bader seemingly got more of a fight from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who entered the cage following the main event and had to be separated from the double champ after a brief melee.

Here's what happened at Bellator 226.

Bellator 226 live fight results

Main event: Ryan Bader retains heavyweight title after no-contest due to accidental eye poke

Round 1:  Bader tags Kongo with a left hand and another left, seemingly stunning him. Another left lands for the double champ moments later. And now, Bader takes Kongo down. He's got a full mount on the challenger and is smothering Kongo at the moment. Kongo is trying to get his back to the cage to work himself back up to his feet, but is unable to do so thus far. Ref momentarily stops the action due to an eye poke, giving time to Kongo to recover. And now, the fight is being called.

The instant replay shows that Bader catches Kongo with an uppercut, while the two were on the ground and Kongo's back was against the cage. Then, seconds later, Bader inadvertently poked Kongo in the left eye and the challenger couldn't see and thus couldn't continue.

12:22 a.m.:  Cheick Kongo has entered the cage and here comes the double champ Ryan Bader.

 

 

This main event is just a few minutes away from starting.

Co-main event: Derek Campos dominates Daniel Straus by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25); Featherweight Grand Prix first round

12:12 a.m.:  There you have it, as Campos is officially announced the winner via unanimous decision. Despite the loss, what Straus has managed to do in the cage following a devastating December 2017 motorcycle accident, in which he had to re-learn how to walk, is nothing short of remarkable. That concludes the Featherweight Grand Prix action for the night. Up next is the main event.

Round 3:  Another round, another takedown for Campos, who threatened an arm triangle and later poured on the pain with punches and elbows from the mount position. Campos did everything he could to get the stoppage with a barrage of punches and elbows late — and even a wild cartwheel kick and stomp — but Straus managed to survive. Still, Campos dominated the former two-time Bellator featherweight champion thoroughly.

Round 2:  Straus tried to get some offense going, but quickly found himself taken down and in the bottom position once again, as Campos landed some shots. Toward the waning seconds of the round, Campos nailed Straus with some nice slashing elbows and a double fist for good measure. Straus is definitely trailing entering the third and final round and is in need of a fight-changing spark. (20-18 Campos)

12:00 a.m.:  Both Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo are ready for tonight's main event.

 

 

 

Round 1:  Straus attempted a high kick early on, slipped and fell, and that was the opening Campos needed to mount and land some heavy shots from the top position. That being said, Straus still threatened a kimura grip and later an arm triangle from the bottom. Campos landed some more punches to end the round, which was largely spent with him on top of Straus. (10-9 Campos)

Ádám Borics detonates flying knee and pounds out Pat Curran with second-round TKO; Featherweight Grand Prix first round

11:33 p.m.:  Just as we bring up Borics' knee, he detonates a devastating switch flying knee that connects to Curran's temple and drops him with a thud. The Hungarian product then smothered Curran with a relentless, unanswered ground and pound, making the ref stop the bout as the second-round bell sounded. "The Kid" improves to 14-0, gaining experience and proving he's for real in discarding of a former two-time featherweight champ.

 

 

What made this flying knee great was Borics feigned the right and connected with the left. Remember, the flying knee was Borics' same weapon of choice in his last win against Aaron Pico back in June. He's serious. Borics is considered the dark horse of the tournament, but with that performance ... perhaps he should be the favorite. Daniel Straus vs. Derek Campos in the co-main event up next.

11:30 p.m.:  Second round here between Pat Curran vs. Ádám Borics, as Featherweight Grand Prix first round action continues. Borics is clearly the quicker fighter, but neither have been able to mount any momentum thus far. Let's see if that changes and if Borics can do it with his knee.

11:10 p.m.:  John McCarthy just interviewed Cris Cyborg in the cage, officially welcoming her to Bellator. Cyborg vs. Bellator featherweight champion Julia Budd is going to be something special.

 

 

Pedro Carvalho puts the squeeze on Sam Sicilia with face crank for second-round submission; Featherweight Grand Prix first round

11:04 p.m.:  Carvalho used a kick and knee to the body to soften up Sicilia, before locking in a face crank and getting his opponent to tap.

 

 

Guess his near-submissions in the first round served were foreshadowing. Impressive performance, as Carvalho showed no regard for Sicilia's pressure, walking through it en route to the submission win. This Featherweight Grand Prix definitely has some depth to it. 

11:00 p.m.:  Sam Sicilia and Pedro Carvalho just had a back-and-forth first round, with Carvalho threatening a neck crank and Anaconda choke with under a minute left.

Emmanuel Sanchez submits Tywan Claxton with a triangle choke in second round; Featherweight Grand Prix first round

10:42 p.m.:  Claxton took Sanchez off his feet with a huge takedown in the second round, but the offensive outburst turned into an instant defensive liability when the veteran trapped "Air" in an inverted triangle choke. Although Claxton was able to wriggle out of that submission, Sanchez still had enough leverage to maneuver and trap Claxton in a straight triangle choke next.

Claxton couldn't get out of that second attempt and Sanchez becomes the first man to hand him a loss, advancing in the Featherweight Grand Prix. Claxton is solid; just needs more experience.

10:30 p.m.: The undefeated Tywan Claxton faces a serious test in veteran Emmanuel Sanchez, as the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix is upon us.

Daniel Carey puts Gaston Bolanos to sleep with first-round submission; featherweight 

10:16 p.m.:  Bolanos seemed to be getting the better of Carey, when the latter caught him in a standing guillotine. With the head and arm position cinched in, "Scary" Carey jumped up and crossed his ankles, using his weight to pull down on Bolanos and put him to sleep. Lights out in an upset just like that.

For kicks, Carey called out the recently-retired Chael Sonnen after his win.

10:08 p.m.:  Daniel "Scary" Carey takes on Gaston Bolanos in a featherweight feature bout to kick off this main card and serve as an appetizer to the Featherweight Grand Prix tournament launch tonight.

10:00 p.m.:  The main card is officially live.

9:40 p.m.:  The Bellator 226 main card is about 20 minutes away. Sporting News will be bringing you live updates, results and highlights.

Bellator 226 fight card

Main card results

  • Ryan Bader fights Cheick Kongo to first-round no-contest (accidental eye poke; Kongo couldn't continue); Bader retains heavyweight title
  • Derek Campos def. Daniel Straus via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25); Featherweight Grand Prix first round
  • Ádám Borics def. Pat Curran by second-round TKO (unanswered punches); Featherweight Grand Prix first round
  • Pedro Carvalho def. Sam Sicilia via second-round submission (face crank); Featherweight Grand Prix first round
  • Emmanuel Sanchez def. Tywan Claxton by second-round submission (triangle choke); Featherweight Grand Prix first round
  • Daniel Carey def. Gaston Bolanos via first-round technical submission (guillotine); featherweight 

Preliminary card results

  • John Maċapa def. Ashleigh Grimshaw by second-round TKO (corner stoppage); featherweight 
  • Chris Gonzalez def. Luis Vargas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25); lightweight 
  • Cass Bell def. Isaiah Rocha by first-round submission (guillotine); bantamweight 
  • Jessica Borga def. Amber Leibrock via first-round submission (armbar); featherweight
  • Batsumberel Dagvadorj def. James Terry by first-round submission (bulldog); welterweight 
  • Adam Piccolotti def. Jacob Smith via second-round submission (rear naked choke); lightweight 
  • Hyder Amil def. Ignacio Ortiz by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28); featherweight 
  • Renato Alves def. Abraham Vaesau via third-round submission (rear naked choke); welterweight 

Latest news about Bellator 226

-Here's how Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo stack up entering their clash at Bellator 226 and their respective keys to victory Saturday night.

-Everything you need to know about how to watch and live-stream Bellator 226 .

Mark Lelinwalla

Mark Lelinwalla Photo

Mark Lelinwalla is a contributing writer and editor for DAZN News. He has written for the likes of the New York Daily News, Men's Health, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Complex, XXL and Vibe Magazine.