Cheick Kongo survived a late scare to edge out Vinicius Queiroz in a split decision in the main event at Bellator 150 on Friday evening at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan.
Kongo controlled the majority of the bout before nearly suffering a knockout finish in the third round, picking up the win with judges’ scores of 30-27, 28-29 and 29-28.
Kongo applied leg kicks to establish a distance throughout the first two rounds of the affair. Queiroz found success in the midway point of the second, securing a takedown on the former UFC heavyweight.
Queiroz landed a well-placed punch in the third that left Kongo falling to the floor. Upon pursuing his fallen opponent, Queiroz was unable to apply enough offense to finish Kongo on the ground and the bout’s time expired with boos raining from the crowd.
With the win on Friday, Kongo now has a two-fight win streak and is 6-2 since coming to Bellator from the UFC.
In the evening’s co-main event, David Rickles stopped Bobby Cooper in the first round of their bout. Rickles landed a firm knee to his opponent, leaving him bloodied. He continued with hammerfists until the referee stopped the bout at the 3:49 mark.
Kendall Grove also found a win on Friday in the Bellator cage, earning a knockout win over Francisco France at 0:35 of the second round.
Other main card winners included Chuka Willis earning a unanimous decision over Gaston Reyno, as well as Rebecca Ruth earning the unanimous nod over Lena Ovchynnikova.
Image courtesy of Bellator MMA.
