Tag: Christian MPumbu

Christian M’Pumbu, Patricio Pitbull Win at Bellator 45

Filed under: BellatorThe fourth season of Bellator Fighting Championships came to an end on Saturday night, with the promotion’s first light heavyweight champion being crowned and a featherweight title rematch getting booked.

In the main event at Bell…

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The fourth season of Bellator Fighting Championships came to an end on Saturday night, with the promotion’s first light heavyweight champion being crowned and a featherweight title rematch getting booked.

In the main event at Bellator 45, Christian M’Pumbu won the light heavyweight championship by defeating Richard Hale by third-round TKO. M’Pumbu landed a huge right hand to knock Hale down, then landed several more punches on the ground as Hale tried to recover. Although Hale did a nice job of protecting himself at first, eventually M’Pumbu managed to get through Hale’s defense, land more punches, and force the referee to step in to stop the fight.

It was an impressive finish for M’Pumbu, improving his record to 18-3-1 and giving him his third consecutive TKO victory inside the Bellator cage.

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire took a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Straus to win the Season 4 featherweight tournament, effectively controlling the fight and winning 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 on the judges’ scorecards. The victory earns Pitbull a rematch with the only man who has defeated him Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren, in what promises to be a great fight.

“I’m happy to give him a rematch and the second loss on his record,” Warren said immediately after the fight.

In the other televised fight, Sam Alvey came back from a brutal beating in the first round of his bout with Karl Amoussou to win a split decision. Early on Amoussou turned Alvey’s head into a bloody mess with a series of vicious elbows, and it looked like the fight might need to be stopped. But Alvey fought just well enough in the second and third rounds to eke out a victory, with two judges giving it to Alvey 29-28 and one judge giving it to Amoussou 29-28.

The fight card was the last of Bellator’s fourth season, and the promotion will now take a five-week hiatus before returning for its “Summer Series” on June 25. Whether Bellator can build on what it’s done this year and build up some more fan interest over the summer remains to be seen, but Bellator is wrapping up an impressive fourth season.

 

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Bellator 45 Predictions

Filed under: BellatorBellator Fighting Championships closes out its fourth season on Saturday night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with Bellator 45, featuring the finals of the promotion’s Season 4 featherweight and light heavyweight tournaments, as well …

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Bellator Fighting Championships closes out its fourth season on Saturday night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with Bellator 45, featuring the finals of the promotion’s Season 4 featherweight and light heavyweight tournaments, as well as a couple of undercard bouts featuring talented fighters making their Bellator debuts.

What: Bellator 45

Where: L’Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana

When: Saturday, the MTV2 televised card begins at 9 PM ET.

Predictions on the three televised fights below.

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Daniel Straus
In the featherweight final, Pitbull will try to avoid doing what his brother Patricky “Pitbull” Freire did in last week’s lightweight final: Get overpowered by an American wrestler. Straus is on a 12-fight winning streak and could pull off a surprise, but I like Pitbull to win the featherweight tournament and earn a rematch with Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren, who beat Pitbull by split decision last year.
Pick: Pitbull

Richard Hale vs. Christian M’Pumbu
Hale got a lot of attention for using an inverted triangle choke to win his first tournament fight, while M’Pumbu has produced a couple of impressive TKO victories in his two tournament bouts. The winner of this one becomes Bellator’s first light heavyweight champion, and I’m going with Hale in what should be a close, competitive decision.
Pick: Hale

Karl Amoussou vs. Sam Alvey
After struggling through a rough 2010 in which he went 0-1-1, Amoussou bounced back with a victory at home in France last month, and I’m excited about seeing him back in North America with Bellator. Amoussou is an exciting, aggressive fighter, and although Alvey is a good striker who’s 14-2 in his MMA career, I like Amoussou to win by TKO.
Pick: Amoussou

 

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Cole Konrad to Face Paul Buentello at Bellator 42

Filed under: Bellator, NewsBellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad has been booked to face UFC and Strikeforce veteran Paul Buentello in a non-title “superfight” scheduled for Bellator 42 on April 23 in Concho, Okla.

Konrad, who made his MMA debut i…

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Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad has been booked to face UFC and Strikeforce veteran Paul Buentello in a non-title “superfight” scheduled for Bellator 42 on April 23 in Concho, Okla.

Konrad, who made his MMA debut in 2010 and finished the year with a perfect record of 7-0, ran through Rogent Lloret, Damian Grabowski and Neil Grove during last season’s Bellator tournament to win the heavyweight belt. At 27 years of age, Konrad remains a prospect in MMA off his accomplishments as a two-time NCAA wrestling champion with the University of Minnesota.