Bellator heavyweight Cheick Kongo ‘doesn’t give a sh-t’ about the Grand Prix results ahead of his Bellator 216 bout.

Bellator heavyweight Cheick Kongo wasn’t included in the recent Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, for reasons he’s still not sure of, and because of this isn’t concerned with how the tournament ended.

“To be honest, I didn’t watch it,” he said. “I was supposed to go out there but I didn’t get the time to go out there and honestly … I don’t care. Why? Because I didn’t belong to the Grand Prix and I was supposed to be there but for some reason, they took me away so no, I don’t care.”

Though Kongo didn’t watch the fights, he did hear about the results and watched the highlight and was just as shocked about the results as we were.

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“I saw the highlights, someone showed me and said, ‘hey look what happened’ and you know what? I don’t give a s–t,” he said. “So I knew from that that [Ryan] Bader won but Fedor [Emelianenko] looked too tired to fight. He’s an old man. He looked like a tired old man, too tired to get up. That’s what I saw. For all the respect I have for Fedor, watching him lose like that … he should have denied the fight. It’s better than ending the fight that way. And the way I am saying that — I have no disrespect — a fight is a fight, sometimes you get knocked down but you can’t lose the fight that way. But everyone loved Fedor and we never know what was going on through the training camp.”

When asked if he felt that Fedor had maybe reached the end of his long legendary career. Kongo was clear.

“I think so,” he said. “I’m not the guy to say it’s time. We never know. Even my reply to you might be too much. But Fedor is not the same guy from the past.”

Kongo, who is also a legend in his own right, is gearing up to face former foe Vitaly Minakov on just two weeks notice. The pair have met once before at Bellator 115 more than four years ago but Kongo, who lost via decision the first time is certain he’ll be walking home with the win this time around.

“I’m not going to overtrain,” Kongo said. “Last time I overtrained and it didn’t work out for me too well, he took the victory from me, so yeah. I won’t be overtraining again. Now I take more time to recover. I take time to rest and listen to my body so I know that I am able to perform the next day with my partners.”

Kongo isn’t concerned with Minakov and how he has improved (or not improved) since their last bout.

“He hasn’t changed his ability to strike, to wrestle,” he said. “He’s going to be the same. I just have to replay to everything he’s going to show. That’s it. That’s my goal, just reply and submerge him. That’s what I gotta do. He’s not better than me.”

Kongo isn’t known for his predictions though he was willing to tell us one thing. He’s planning to win no matter the method.

“My prediction is to win,” he laughed. “I’m not one of those guys with a crystal ball and predicting. We are gonna strike, we’re gonna wrestle. If I get the time and ability to put him down with a strike, I will. If not, it’s gonna be a big brawl. Same with wrestling, I’m going to avoid his submissions but if I get the opportunity to submit him, then yes, that’s what’s going to happen. Or the decision, I can’t tell. But for sure I want to be better. I will be better than him.”

Bellator 216 takes place on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Follow along with FanSided who will be on site for live results, news and exclusive content on fight night.