Cheick Kongo Leaves Ibarra For Wolfslair
UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo has joined former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in leaving Juanito Ibarra and joining Wolfslair Academy in the UK, according to Eurosport.
Late last month Jackson signed a three-year deal with Wolfslair after leaving Ibarra due to a reported money dispute.
Now Kongo, a UFC heavyweight contender, has joined Jackson in leaving Ibarra’s Big Bear, California-based camp for the UK’s premiere gym that also includes UFC fighters Michael Bisping and Paul Kelly.
A native of France, Kongo emerged as a top contender with back-to-back victories over Assuerio Silva and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. After dropping a split decision to Heath Herring at UFC 82 in March Kongo bounced back with a first-round knockout of Dan Evensen at UFC 87 in August.
After nearly signing to take on Brock Lesnar before the return of UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, Kongo will look to take on a striker in his next fight, though at this time a date and opponent have not been determined.
Tags: Cheick Kongo
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Wow looks like everyone is pi$$ed at Ibarra. He might as well move on to boxing. I don’t think the MMA crowd can trust him anymore.
Rampage signing with Wolfslair I guess that means he’ll be moving to the UK. That should be interesting, Rampage’s accent and trying to communicate with Brits…wow.
I hope they have footage of Rampage talking to Brits so we can see if its just like in America where he makes jokes and no one laughs and its uncomfortable. “I never knew he would beat up my fists with his face”…crickets
Wow dude if Kongo is also leaving juanito, he must have done somthing that pissed the fighters off. I thought he was kool but i guess i was wrong. Besides, kongo and rampage are buddies so it makes sense that he would join his camp with michael “the ****t” bisping.
that was supposed to read michael the “kunt” bisping
Welcome to England Cheick. Excellent news for the UK MMA scene with Rampage and Cheick being associated with our no.1 MMA academy.
I called Ibarra from the beginning. The entire season of the Ultimate Fighter I was telling everyone something isn’t right with that guy. He seems so fake and shady. You can’t always judge a book by it’s cover but 90% of the time it will be as you thought. The guy just seems like there is always an alternative motive.
xstevex,
you’re intuition is greater than mine then cuz the whole time during that show i thought he was a cool dude. also, it seemed like a lotttt of fighters both mma and boxing seemed to have alot of respect for the guy. sucks to be him but at least we can thank him for helping the US get rid of gay kongo. I’d like to have kept rampage but at least we got the silver lining. I don’t see Kongo ever goin much further than gatekeeper status in the ufc.
see all these top fighter are seeing sence and moveing to our great country haha the weather is sh*t tho so i dont see them lasting haha
Good call JOHNBOY, we haven’t seen a real summer for years , Wolfslair turning into real big place for fighters , guess Bisping can’t be too much of a kunt if all these mma fighters following him to st helens !!!! Big up U.K!!!!!
I just don’t get it why everyone hates on bisping jeez the guy is on hell of a fighter…And Kongo just needs alittle more exp then he might have somthing for the heavyweights..As for the bisping haters wait and see he almost beat rashad if it wasnt for the gay ass takedowmns he is the only one and i mean only one that will give a.silva a run for his money!
@Leo
“he is the only one and i mean only one that will give a.silva a run for his money!”
Highly doubtful. I’m a Bisping fan, but I’m not even convinced he can get past Leben, let alone Hendo or Marquardt to even fight Silva.
It’s a good thing Kongo ducked Lesnar. He looks like a dying fish flopping around on his back.
“all these top fighters?” who? rampage yes, kongo…? dunno about that one guys. don’t get me wrong, i’m not hatin on the UK by any means, but don’t jump the gun quite yet. as for bisping, i hate the guy. i’ll admit he’s a talented fighter at 185 but i dunno that’s he’s top 5 in that class. no way in hell he makes it outa the first round with the spider, and i dunno how well he’d do against hendo, marquardt, okami, franklin, cote, almeda… let him beat leben before you start callin for title shots, and even then he’s got a way to go. my hope is that hammill drops to 185 just to see the look on the counts face, haha.
Leben is going to ko bisping in the first round…mark my words….he does good against no bodies…but leben is going to f*ck him up
if Leben ko’s in the first round i’ll be suprised.. bisping is way smarter then leben he’s not just gunna go in there and throw sum ugly ass bar room haymakers like leben he’s a much smarter fighter.. and thats bullsht about hendo and marquart being better.. when in the hell has hendo even fought? bisping is a cardo machine.. ko in the first round yeh ok wait and see…
you guys will hate him even more when he works leben over… leben is a freaking head case
bisping sucks, he likes men, and will get killed by anderson silva!! WHO HAS HE BEATEN TO EVEN BE WORTHY OF BEING MENTIONED IN A TITLE FIGHT AGAINST SILVA??? ELVIS SINOSIC, ERIC SCHAFFER, JASON DAY?
WHO HAS HE BEATEN?? WHO? WHO? WHO? WHOOOOOOOOOOOO?
……..ok i’m done
To Leo:
When in the hell has Hendo even fought? Or did you mean who in the hell has Hendo even fought?
Regardless, your comments make no sense and are based off of an uneducated opinion. Hendo owned many fighters at 183lbs in pride, and moved up to knock out Wanderlei. He’s the only guy EVER to hold two titles at once, in two different weight classes. Wikipedia his record for ****s sake. He had an unfortunate comeback to the UFC, but to compare Bisping to Dan Henderson is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard since George W. Bush was re-elected.
Have nothing against you being a huge Bisping fan, but please defend him intelligently and maybe I’ll respect your opinion.
I can tell you who he didn’t beat… Matt Hamill.
Michael “No-account” bisping
He beat the chainsaw guy so bad he quit thats who! LOL
why does everyone hate bisping??? not being worthy of a title shot at a.silva?? he isnt your right but give him a few more fights and he might be. Patrick Cote worthy of a title shot??? c’mon guys if theres ever been a mismatch in the ufc this is going to be the biggest – all Cote is going to do is look for the big haymaker. I think Bisping will take Leben to a discision – Leben will keep coming forward – some fairly average fighters have exploited Leben’s weaknesses and made him look crap and unfit (jason mcdonald). If Bisping controls the fight and counterpunches Leben’s in for a longggggggggg night!
i do not get why people hate bisping…
haha i kind of like the guy..
him and ross pointon were down on TUF!!!
haha
i think he will samsh leben…
but how about kongo?
thats a cool move…him and rampage training together…
the guy is ripped!!!
man if he had some top training…the boy would be a beast!!!!!!!!!
Cote-Silva is the biggest mismatch since Evans-Liddell… but wait… that ended up the other way around…
When bisping was on TUF he whined and cried about Hamill the entire time. Then when he got his chance to put Hamill behind him, Hamill kicks his butt and still loses the decision. That wasn’t bisping’s fault that they scored the fight with blindfolds on, but after the fight when Hamill tried to shake the whiner’s hand and he acted like such a little punk… that’s when I lost every bit of respect for that clown. I hope he loses to Leben BIG! I hope Leben Evans’ him. He needs to grow up and become a man and stop whinning because Ortiz likes Hamil more than him.
Kongo is cool . he;s not in the title picture yet but he may eventually get a shot .Not the flashiest guy nor the smartest fighter but has a good frame to work with .The shot wont come for a long while due to the crap going on with you-know-who……….but he’s young so no prob
Good post Doom…
Regardless if kongo ever becomes a title contender or not the UFC needs fighters like him to fill their cards. Guys that they can promote(win over cro-cop) and will go out there and throw some leather(every fight except with herring) besides the heavyweight division needs everybody they can get.
To Figs: Hendo was in his prime like when? 6 years ago were talking about the now and from what ive seen he’s hasnt dun jack sht bisping is on top of his game and as soon as he beats leben then then maybe yull realize what im talking about go eat another donut and check back with me in october!
Leo,
Leben has developed into a better fighter. The haymaker throwing Leben is one of the past. He has improved every aspect of his game and moved to hawaii to train more seriouly. He has been reborn as a fighter and stated that he realizes for him to rise to the top he needs to be different than he use to be.
wasn’t ibarra supposed to quit if rampage lost anyway??!! put your money where your mouth is fat man, nobody wants you.
kouch….Leben has not changed as soon as somone hits him our starts to get in his head he goes back to his old ways and starts throwing sum ugly sht..And thats were he’s gunna get in trouble..mark my words HEADCASE
Leo, I have to agree.
I think Leben is smarter these days, but your right in that after about the first round…
“soon as somone hits him our starts to get in his head he goes back to his old ways and starts throwing sum ugly sht..And thats were he’s gunna get in trouble..mark my words HEADCASE”
Bisping by submission either in 2nd or 3rd, or decision.
bisping rules how can u not put him top 5 185 only silva would own him but lets be honest silva would own just about any1. the leban fight is bad for the count i see him winning but either way hes not guna get no love, i want to see bisping vs hendo that would be one hell of a fight
JOHNBOY, just a question what is your top 5 @ 185? Is it just UFC or world? Just asking
UFC: 1, Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Yushin Okami
4. Nate Marquart
5. Patrick Cote (haha)
World
1. The Spider
2. Hendo
3. Robbie Lawler
4. Paulo Filho
5. Yushin Okami
Not the best list by far and that’s the problem is that Anderson Silva is better than all of those people hands down I just think it is too early to state that Bisbing is top 5
FR,
I think Nate Marquardt is becoming quite the lethal weapon. I would put him in the top 5 in the world. It would be nice to see him fight Hendo or Bisping next.
Yes Nate is quite different as of late but again the problem is that he was already delt with by The Spider… I would like to see Bisbing v Nate if Bisbing gets past Leben
Cheick was going to do what Rampage did because they are freinds plus he gets to stay in Europe as well I would like to see Cheick make his game more well rounded the he would be a contender possibly next year
i was talking bout ufc, mine would be
a-silva
hendo
nate
bisping
okami
cote would be next but ide put money on bisping beating cote and if franklin goes back down to 185 he goes into 2nd place
I can see that list, I think Bisbing would beat Cote too…
JOHNBOY you got it right there.
If/when Bisping beats Leben, and Hendo publicly stating he wants a high profile fight (also Hendo previously stating he thinks highly of Bisping), I can seriously see a Bisping vs Hendo 185Ib elimination fight early next year.
Obviously we got Nate and Okami in the mix to, and I personally see no real future for Cote. He’s going to get destroyed by Silva, everyone knows this, and to be honest, I cant see Cote beating any of those top 5.
Good news for MMA UK, lets see how Wolfslair will do now.
Ibarra is ****in UP..