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On the line this Saturday night is the first ever Bellator light heavyweight title, and Season Four Tournament finalist Richard “Rare Breed” Hale (17-3-1) is “expecting a war” when he steps in the cage with opponent Christian “Tonton” M’Pumbu (17-3-1).
Hale earned his way into the finals by stopping Nik Fekete in the tournament opener, using a highlight reel inverted triangle choke to earn the technical submission win. He then earned a close split decision over D.J. Linderman last month to make it to the finals.
Speaking to BloodyElbow.com Radio, Hale talked about his split decision win over Linderman, noting that he had to cut 19 pounds on the day of the fight, and his expectations against M’Pumbu who has won four of his last five bouts by TKO.
“I (cut) 19 pounds the day of. No excuses by any means, but I definitely learned my lesson and can’t make those same mistakes going into a fight with a guy who doesn’t have to cut weight in Christian M’Pumbu…”
“I always want to go in there and put on an outstanding performance, but going in, even getting up the steps was a feat. I was definitely not feeling myself, not feeling 100 percent by any means and it was a battle just to get in there. But going into that third round, I was like, ‘This is all or nothing…’”
“I’m honestly expecting a war. I expect an outstanding fight. It’s going to be very tactical and methodical. It’s going to be a chess match in my opinion. That’s what I look forward to most. The type of fight I look forward to most is that Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fight. You always look for that one person who’s going to give you that outstanding performance to show all of your abilities and who knows, it might be Christian M’Pumbu.”
Hale meets M’Pumbu this Saturday night, May 21, in the main event of Bellator 45 which takes place at the L’Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Their title bout will air live on MTV2 in the U.S. and on theScore in Canada, with the broadcast beginning at 9PM EST (6PM PST).