Cheick Kongo picked up his first submission victory in nearly seven years when he tapped Sergei Kharitonov in the Bellator 265 main event.
Kongo (31–11–2, one no-contest) locked in a rear-naked choke that forced a tap with one second remaining in the second round of the heavyweight bout.
The 46-year-old hadn’t won in more than two years. Kongo was coming off a split decision loss to Timothy Johnson in 2020 and a no-contest with Ryan Bader in 2019. He had won eight straight prior to that two-fight winless streak.
@Kongo4real beats the bell and makes Sergei Kharitonov tap before the end of the nd round!#Bellator265 pic.twitter.com/PnU04aeLUz
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) August 21, 2021
Meanwhile, Kharitonov (32-9, two no-contests) hadn’t lost via submission since facing Josh Barnett in Strikeforce back in 2011.
A bout between ranked featherweight contenders Adam Borics and Jay Jay Wilson was scheduled for the co-main event, but Wilson missed weight and the matchup was pulled from the card.
Below are the complete Bellator 265 results.
MAIN CARD
— Cheick Kongo def. Sergei Kharitonov by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Logan Storley def. Dante Schiro by split decision
— Marcelo Golm def. Billy Swanson by TKO
— Jornel Lugo def. Keith Lee by technical submission (rear-naked choke)
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Fabio Aguiar def. Taylor Johnson by split decision
— Mike Hamel def. Bryce Logan by unanimous
— Archie Colgan def. Ben Simons by TKO (punches)
— Duane Johnson def. Deven Fisher by submission (D’arce choke)
— Bailey Schoenfelder def. Kory Moegenburg by TKO
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