Oh my fucking god, you guys, Reug Reug wants to fight Mariusz Pudzianowski—and he reportedly wants to do it to avenge the honor of The Bombardier.
Speaking to French language show Lutte TV this week, Oumar Kane (aka Reug Reug, aka the fucking “Lightning of Thiaroye” [!] apparently) said his guy Serigne Ousmane Dia (aka The Bombardier, aka the fellow who just got flattened by Pudzianowski in 18 seconds) has been taking some heat in their home country after his poor showing last weekend at KSW 64.
Reug Reug is not trying to hear that, see.
“What hurts me the most are the critics in Senegal after the defeat of Bombardier,” he said, though the magic of Google Translate and a transcription from the equally French WiwSport.com*. “The Senegalese should know that he represented our country so everyone should encourage him and not criticize him … Mariusz Pudzianowski doesn’t scare me. If I am offered a contract against Pudzianowski I will take it and I will beat him.”
Reug Reug is described by Lutte TV as being “very angry” and these certainly sound like fighting words. Full disclosure, there’s also a sentence in the original quote where he says, “Shooting planes is nothing at all and the Senegalese want to do something incredible with it.” Yeah, not sure what that means at all, unless it’s a reference to The Bombardier that lost a little something in translation.
Honestly, this fight gives me a tingling feeling in my extremities just thinking about it. This guy Reug Reug out here casually trying to set up an MMA bout between two of the mightiest forces in the known universe that would have the potential of tipping the earth from its very axis and HOLY SHIT IS THIS A THING THAT COULD ACTUALLY REALLY HAPPEN???
Now, wait. Slow down, Chad. Slow down. Just breathe into this paper bag for a minute. Do that thing where you touch the tip of each finger with your thumb—the one your therapist says will help keep you grounded and in the moment. Do your eight-count breathing.
There.
OK.
You ready to go on? We all know you’re excited, but you can’t just fly off the handle like that, OK, buddy? People are reading this shit. This isn’t your fucking dream journal. You gotta play it cool.
And listen, there are some pretty big real-world obstacles in the way of a fight like this ever becoming a reality. I mean, last we heard, Reug Reug was still under contract to One Championship. You remember them—Chatri and them dudes? Guys who always make the wild claims about the viewership numbers? Send out the outlandish press releases? Yeah, them.
Reug Reug fought three times for One in 2021, going 2-1. The last was that weird loss to Kirill Grishenko in April that involved both a last-minute change of opponent due to some COVID stuff and then an incident where Grishenko maaaybe seemed to punch Kane after the bell.
But wait! The plot thickens. Lutte TV reports that Reug Reug is in America right now getting ready for a “fight” against Gouye Gui on January 2. That contest—and it’s frankly really hard to tell what kind of contest we’re talking about here—is reportedly being promoted by something called the IGFM and is set to go down in “the national stadium.”
Lutte TV says Kane and Gui are “sworn enemies” and “will not give each other a gift.” Again, Google Translate, y’all.
If I had to guess, I’d say we’re probably talking about a traditional Senegalese wrestling match here between Kane and Gui, which would be fucking awesome in its own right. But obviously that raises some questions. Does Reug Reug have a carve-out in his One contract that allows him to compete in his primary discipline? Are his MMA fortunes still controlled by One? Is he under contract to One at all? Seems like One would be foolish to let him go, so I’m additionally guessing the answers to those questions are in order: Yes, yes and yes.
So, is Reug Reug hashtag Just Sayin’ Stuff here? It’s possible. His contract situation obviously could make it tough for this unbelievably awesome weirdsmobile fight to actually happen. But, my god, if ever there was a time for the fun-loving carnival barkers of KSW and the straight-laced, honor-obsessed nerds of One Championship to kick down the forbidden door and co-promote some shit THIS IS FUCKING IT.
Until then, I’ll be over her dream journaling about it.
*Special shoutout to the eagle-eyed members of the CME Patreon for apparently being out here scouring the French-language MMA scene and tipped us to this story. You all are the true heroes.
(Photo by OneFC)
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