Author: Matt Erickson [matt-erickson]

At long last, Christian M’Pumbu has a date set for the first defense of his light heavyweight title.

M’Pumbu, Bellator’s 205-pound champion, next month will defend his belt at Bellator 84 against Attila Vegh. Sources close to the promotion on Monday confirmed the news to MMAjunkie.com.

Bellator 84 takes place Dec. 14 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., about 20 miles from Chicago. Main-card fights air on MTV2 following prelims on Spike.com.

If you’ve gotten excited about some potential superfight drama after the UFC 154 main event, you might wanna temper your expectations.

First, of course, Georges St-Pierre has to return from a 19-month layoff and beat Carlos Condit. If that happens, there has been speculation that Anderson Silva would enter the octagon to set up a pound-for-pound fight between the two dominant champions.

UFC President Dana White said as much this past week, and Silva plans on being cageside in Montreal. But not so fast, Silva said.

A pair of previously announced dates for Bellator tournament finals has been flip-flopped.

The promotion had planned to hold its Season 7 featherweight tournament final at its season-ending event, Bellator 84. The Season 7 lightweight tournament final was booked for Bellator 83. But now those two fights will change places.

Sources close to the promotion on Monday confirmed the switch with MMAjunkie.com.

Vinicius Queiroz’s manager thinks the referee may have contributed to the fighter’s loss to Alexander Volkov at this past Friday’s Bellator 80.

An email protesting the officiating today was forwarded to MMAjunkie.com.

“[Referee James] Warring could have contributed to [and] altered the result of the fight after he ordered the fighters to rise up with [after] only 15 seconds [on the ground] . in a moment that was favorable for Vincius,” manager Josef Borges wrote to the Florida State Boxing Commission, which oversaw the event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Ratings for the ninth episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson” dipped slightly this past Friday, but still were the fourth highest of the season.

921,000 people tuned into the UFC’s reality competition on FX, down from the 1.1 million for Episode 8 the week prior. That mark tied a season high that was set for Episode 4.

After 676,000 viewers for Episode 7, the past two installments have seen significant bumps as the season heads into the quarterfinals, narrowed down from the original 32-fighter field.

Without Olly Bradstreet, there might be no Steven Siler.

Siler on Saturday fight Darren Elkins at UFC 154. Both featherweights have three-fight win streaks. The winner may very well earn the right to fight an opponent with a bigger name.

No disrespect, but not Olly Bradstreet – Siler has overcome that hurdle in his career. After being thrice submitted by the fighter, who fought on the local circuit in Siler’s adopted hometown of Odgen, Utah, he won a fourth bout by first-round guillotine choke.