To paraphrase a bit of legendary cinema, Bas Rutten’s new TV show is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever seen. At no point in the rambling, incoherent episode was El Guapo even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who tuned in is now dumber for having watched it. I award this show no points, and may God have mercy on Bas’s soul.
Former UFC heavyweight champion turned TV show host, Bas Rutten, has a new show out on Fuel TV titled Punk Payback, which is somewhat odd considering none of the law-breaking punks actually get their comeuppance like they do on Bully Beatdown. So that’s strike one, right there: blatant false advertising.
To paraphrase a bit of legendary cinema, Bas Rutten’s new TV show is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever seen. At no point in the rambling, incoherent episode was El Guapo even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who tuned in is now dumber for having watched it. I award this show no points, and may God have mercy on Bas’s soul.
Former UFC heavyweight champion turned TV show host, Bas Rutten, has a new show out on Fuel TV titled Punk Payback, which is somewhat odd considering none of the law-breaking punks actually get their comeuppance like they do on Bully Beatdown. So that’s strike one, right there: blatant false advertising.
The show starts with hilarious warnings reminiscent of Jackass, but less serious, declaring that everything you are about to see is purely for entertainment purposes only and that the techniques shown are possibly not even recommended by law enforcement. But what the hey, “El Guapo” approves, what have you got to lose?
Bas Rutten reviews surveillance footage of several crimes happening that he feels could have turned out differently had the victim known the proper thing to do. For instance, what should you do if someone tries to carjack you or rob you with a palm tree? Yes, you read that right.
Punk Payback offers little in the way of valuable life skills or entertainment. It is a combination of Bas’ YouTube videos and Manswers minus the gratuitous cleavage. You’ll get a few chuckles every now and then in addition to an ample dosage of WWE-esque punches, kicks, and of course, palm strikes. Aside from that, there’s not much else.
The only noteworthy bit I got out of the pilot episode is that if I’m ever in a bar fight and need to improvise a weapon, I should break the beer bottle on my opponents head rather than on the table in hopes of creating a stabbing device.
If you’re really, really bored — or stoned — this show may suit you. For the rest of you, well, let’s just say that you’d be better served spending those thirty minutes slamming your head against the wall.
(Round two of Dillashaw vs. Delorme, via IronForgesIron)
Roland Delorme’s foot is still as red and lumpy as Bruce Vilanch’s face. It still hurts like a bitch, but at least he can’t transmit it to anybody else, whatever it is. And there’s a still a good chance he’ll be cleared to fight, so fingers crossed.
Jason Miller brings in former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro — who currently trains Mayhem at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach — to work with the Team Miller guys on striking drills. But Michael Bisping ups the ante, bringing in Tito Ortiz — his coach on TUF 3 — for a ground-and-pound clinic. “It’s not about the money or fame,” Ortiz tells the blue team. “It’s about us being men and seeing who’s the baddest guy alive.” Marcus Brimage is star-struck: “I was like, wow…that’s a big fucking head!”
Brimage and Akira Corassani are still harping on the fact that TJ Dillashaw asked to fight Delorme instead of Dodson, looking for an easy road to the bantamweight semi-finals. So Akira and Diego Brandao hatch a plan to get even with TJ. It’s a pretty simple plan, really — they plan to beat the shit out of him at practice.
(Round two of Dillashaw vs. Delorme, via IronForgesIron)
Roland Delorme’s foot is still as red and lumpy as Bruce Vilanch’s face. It still hurts like a bitch, but at least he can’t transmit it to anybody else, whatever it is. And there’s a still a good chance he’ll be cleared to fight, so fingers crossed.
Jason Miller brings in former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro — who currently trains Mayhem at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach — to work with the Team Miller guys on striking drills. But Michael Bisping ups the ante, bringing in Tito Ortiz — his coach on TUF 3 — for a ground-and-pound clinic. “It’s not about the money or fame,” Ortiz tells the blue team. “It’s about us being men and seeing who’s the baddest guy alive.” Marcus Brimage is star-struck: “I was like, wow…that’s a big fucking head!”
Brimage and Akira Corassani are still harping on the fact that TJ Dillashaw asked to fight Delorme instead of Dodson, looking for an easy road to the bantamweight semi-finals. So Akira and Diego Brandao hatch a plan to get even with TJ. It’s a pretty simple plan, really — they plan to beat the shit out of him at practice.
The plan is a success. TJ gets armbarred, leglocked, slammed, punched in the face, etc. It’s an ego-check, no doubt. But finally Dillashaw takes Akira down hard, and Akira walks off nursing his elbow. Still amped up, TJ starts slugging with Marcus, and the sparring session escalates into an all-out war followed by a shouting match. Bisping actually thinks it’s good for their training, but he and Tiki step in to douse the tension and prevent further in-fighting.
Delorme is cleared to bang. His doctor told him not to kick with the swollen foot until the fight, and the illness actually helped keep his weight down. Now, he just needs to knock some rust off before it’s go time.
Mayhem wants to get even for the towing of his car, so he gets some of his blue-collar buddies to haul in highway barricades and block in Tiki’s fancy pickup truck. Tiki sees it, and cries on the inside.
Final pre-fight chatter: Roland had a restaurant outside of Winnipeg, but sold it to pursue his fighting dream. TJ says he’s not one of those typical wrestlers that just wants to lay on you; he wants to have exciting fights. Roland thinks his grappling will be the kryptonite to TJ’s wrestling. Says Dillashaw: “It gives me confidence when guys are scared of my abilities and what I can do.” Delorme has a four-inch reach advantage. Okay? Let’s get to it…
Round 1: Delorme fires a leg kick, Dillashaw catches it and takes him down. Delorme pops up, avoids a guillotine. Dillashaw almost catches another kick. He muscles Delorme to the mat, and starts punching from inside guard. Dillashaw passes to side control and drops some elbows. Delorme spins out and escapes. Nice uppercut from Dillashaw, Delorme returns with strikes. Another takedown from Dillashaw. He tries to take Delorme’s back, Delorme rolls to defend. Heavy ground-and-pound from Dillashaw, who’s landing and smashing Delorme up. Delorme gets up, Dillashaw hangs on to a leg and trips him down. Dillashaw looks for a choke on the ground. Delorme escapes to his feet, lands a body shot and a jab. Dillashaw connects with a right straight. Punch and body kick from Delorme. Dillashaw shoots, lands some knees from clinch. Delorme trips Dillashaw down and tries to work his jits, but Dillashaw reverses and ends the round on top. Big round for TJ.
Round 2: Dillashaw lands a right straight that knocks Delorme on his ass. Dillashaw starts celebrating, but Delorme stays conscious, so Dillashaw has to dive on and continue beating on him. Dillashaw with big elbows and punches from the top. Delorme trying to work his guard, but he’s dazed. Delorme tries to explode out, but Dillashaw stays on him, takes Delorme’s back and ends the fight with a choke. TJ Dillashaw makes it into the bantamweight semis.
Delorme has quite a lump on his face from the punishment Dillashaw was dishing out. He’s emotional. “I wanted it,” he says, choking back tears. “I didn’t get it.”
The score ends up 5-3 in Team Miller’s favor at the end of the quarterfinals, which means that two of his 135-pounders will have to fight each other in the semis. The coaches and Dana White bring in the fighters one by one to get their input.
First, the bantamweights come in. TJ Dillashaw wants “Vanilla Ice,” Dustin Pague, as it would be an exciting fight against somebody with a hole in his game. John Dodson wants TJ, or Johnny Bedford because Bedford fought three of Dodson’s teammates and beat them. Pague and Bedford both want to fight their teammate, Dodson, for being a snake-ass snitch. Mayhem and Bisping both agree that TJ and Dodson are the best 135-pounders, and would produce a great fight. (“Finally we agree on something,” Miller says. “Well, don’t get used to it,” Bisping says.)
The featherweights are brought in next. Bryan Caraway implies that he wants to fight Diego Brandao in the finals, but not in the semis. Unfortunately for him, the coaches both want Caraway vs. Diego and Akira vs. Dennis Bermudez.
The semis are announced. At bantamweight, TJ Dillashaw will meet Dustin Pague, and John Dodson will face Johnny Bedford. Akira says TJ picked the easy road again. Dodson says Bedford is too lanky too deal with him, and Pague compliments Dillashaw on being a “pretty good looking guy.”
At featherweight, it’s Akira Corassani vs. Dennis Bermudez and Diego Brandao vs. Bryan Caraway. Akira says Dennis is scared of his standup. Bermudez wants to pay Akira back for all the pranks in the house. Caraway, as expected, isn’t pleased with his matchup. He thinks him vs. Diego is “the true finals match.”
Says TJ: “Caraway is definitely scared of Diego. I train with Caraway back home and I know how good he is…he has to start believing it too. Diego’s super mentally strong, and Caraway isn’t, and that might be a factor in this fight.”
A superstar on the rise, fist-posing next to a possibly-retired legend who barely has the strength to shaka — you can put this photo in the MMA dictionary next to “changing of the guard.”
After the jump: More UFC 137 post-fight press conference highlights, in which Diaz talks about why he didn’t want to fight Penn, and explains that he didn’t go to school for buying a house. (That’ll make a little more sense when you watch it.)
A superstar on the rise, fist-posing next to a possibly-retired legend who barely has the strength to shaka — you can put this photo in the MMA dictionary next to “changing of the guard.”
After the jump: More UFC 137 post-fight press conference highlights, in which Diaz talks about why he didn’t want to fight Penn, and explains that he didn’t go to school for buying a house. (That’ll make a little more sense when you watch it.)
Let’s get the obvious out of the way as soon as possible: Last night’s UFC 137 was nothing that it was supposed to be. The odds of things playing out as they were supposed to with this card were slim from the beginning, with Nick Diaz compromising the initial main event with his decision to no-show press week and GSP having to withdraw from his match with Carlos Condit. But at least we could rest assured that BJ Penn would deliver some karma to Nick Diaz in the form of a quick beating, right?
Throughout the first round of last night’s main event, it looked that way. BJ Penn’s counter striking proved too much for Diaz early on, as Penn outworked the Strikeforce champion, managing a takedown as well. But by the second round, Nick Diaz came back to take complete control of the fight. His better conditioning allowed him to keep Penn against the cage and unleash strikes at will. By the third round, BJ Penn’s defense was completely ineffective, as Nick Diaz continued to batter Penn. With his eleventh straight victory, Nick Diaz looks as ready for Georges St. Pierre as anyone has in a while. The bout also earned both men the 75k Fight of the Night honors.
Perhaps BJ Penn was just pulling a Jamie Varner last night, and announcing his retirement out of frustration. But if he wasn’t, it’s hard to argue against his decision. BJ Penn is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, with his sole victory coming over the recently retired Matt Hughes. If it wasn’t clear from his draw against Jon Fitch that he would never be a champion in the UFC again, it became pretty obvious after watching him gas out and get picked apart last night. Penn’s legacy can’t improve at this point, but it can certainly diminish with more losses to contenders in the UFC. He’s making the right move by retiring; let’s just see if he actually sticks to it.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way as soon as possible: Last night’s UFC 137 was nothing that it was supposed to be. The odds of things playing out as they were supposed to with this card were slim from the beginning, with Nick Diaz compromising the initial main event with his decision to no-show press week and GSP having to withdraw from his match with Carlos Condit. But at least we could rest assured that BJ Penn would deliver some karma to Nick Diaz in the form of a quick beating, right?
Throughout the first round of last night’s main event, it looked that way. BJ Penn’s counter striking proved too much for Diaz early on, as Penn outworked the Strikeforce champion, managing a takedown as well. But by the second round, Nick Diaz came back to take complete control of the fight. His better conditioning allowed him to keep Penn against the cage and unleash strikes at will. By the third round, BJ Penn’s defense was completely ineffective, as Nick Diaz continued to batter Penn. With his eleventh straight victory, Nick Diaz looks as ready for Georges St. Pierre as anyone has in a while. The bout also earned both men the 75k Fight of the Night honors.
Perhaps BJ Penn was just pulling a Jamie Varner last night, and announcing his retirement out of frustration. But if he wasn’t, it’s hard to argue against his decision. BJ Penn is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, with his sole victory coming over the recently retired Matt Hughes. If it wasn’t clear from his draw against Jon Fitch that he would never be a champion in the UFC again, it became pretty obvious after watching him gas out and get picked apart last night. Penn’s legacy can’t improve at this point, but it can certainly diminish with more losses to contenders in the UFC. He’s making the right move by retiring; let’s just see if he actually sticks to it.
It’s never fun when a fight that is supposed to deliver fireworks comes up short. What else is there to really say about Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo? The fight that was supposed to deliver a quick, exciting finish was decided by Cheick’s efforts to secure takedowns in the third round after two rounds of lackluster action. Excuse us if we sound cynical, but where exactly does Cheick Kongo go from here? He hasn’t lost since his first round submission to Frank Mir at UFC 107, but to imply that he should be given a contender at heavyweight seems a bit ridiculous. Likewise, Matt Mitrione is now 5-1, and returns to the lower end of the middle of the pack at heavyweight.
Roy Nelson’s physique may not have improved as drastically as some expected, but he seemed to be taking his career much more seriously in his fight with Mirko Filipovic. In a sentence we never thought we’d type, Nelson used his conditioning (?!) to outlast the PRIDE legend en route to a third round TKO. It’s a welcome change of pace from the Roy Nelson we were accustomed to seeing. It’s hard to imagine that Cro Cop isn’t retiring for real this time after watching him lose last night. We would write more about this, but Cro Cop has been talking about retirement for so long that it’s hard to say more than “Thanks for the memories” at this point.
In other action, Scott Jorgensen earned a unanimous decision over Jeff Curran, while Hatsu Hioki picked up a controversial split decision over George Roop. Perhaps it was Octagon jitters, perhaps it was jet lag, perhaps it was Japanese fighters being overrated to begin with or perhaps it was a combination of the three, but Hatsu Hioki’s UFC debut left a lot to be desired from him. Also of note, Submission of the Night honors went to Donald Cerrone for his first round rear naked choke over Dennis Siver. Regardless of what you think of Cerrone outside of the cage, the guy is on an absolute tear in the lightweight division, easily handling Siver on his way to the early stoppage. Also, Bart Palaszewski picked up Knockout of the Night honors with his KO over Tyson Griffin. Griffin entered the fight losing three of his last four, showed up three pounds overweight, and got knocked out in the first round. Excuse us for pointing out the obvious, but his walking papers are more than likely on the way.
Main card
Nick Diaz def. BJ Penn via unanimous decision
Cheick Kongo def. Matt Mitrione via unanimous decision
Roy Nelson def. Mirko Cro Cop via third-round TKO
Scott Jorgensen def. Jeff Curran via unanimous decision
Hatsu Hioki def. George Roop via split decision
Preliminary card
Donald Cerrone def. Dennis Siver via submission (rear-naked choke)
Bart Palaszewski def. Tyson Griffin via first-round KO
Brandon Vera def. Eliot Marshall via unanimous decision
Ramsey Nijem def. Danny Downes via unanimous decision
Francis Carmont def. Chris Camozzi via unanimous decision
Clifford Starks def. Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision
(Brandao vs. Siler. Fight starts at the 1:09 mark. Props: IronForgesIron)
After the fiasco that followed the Akira/Neace fight last week, Team Mayhem coach Ryan Parsons wants to give Michael Bisping a piece of his mind. “You’re the kind of guy that can’t keep his motherfucking mouth shut,” Parsons tells him. “Which is why you’re the most hated fighter in the UFC. I get it now.”
“I earn a lot more money than you, motherfucker,” Bisping says, clearly a 1%’er.
“Go spit on somebody,” Parsons says. And so on. Bisping feels that Team Miller should take their loss like men, and that Parsons should fuck off.
The next fight has already been announced as Diego Brandao (Bisping’s #1 featherweight) vs. Steven Siler (Miller’s #4). Siler thinks that people don’t believe in his skills, but Team Bisping isn’t taking him lightly, especially because Brandao’s cardio is a little lacking during practice. Still, Bisping is excited to see what the half-crazy Brazilian can do.
(Brandao vs. Siler. Fight starts at the 1:09 mark. Props: IronForgesIron)
After the fiasco that followed the Akira/Neace fight last week, Team Mayhem coach Ryan Parsons wants to give Michael Bisping a piece of his mind. “You’re the kind of guy that can’t keep his motherfucking mouth shut,” Parsons tells him. “Which is why you’re the most hated fighter in the UFC. I get it now.”
“I earn a lot more money than you, motherfucker,” Bisping says, clearly a 1%’er.
“Go spit on somebody,” Parsons says. And so on. Bisping feels that Team Miller should take their loss like men, and that Parsons should fuck off.
The next fight has already been announced as Diego Brandao (Bisping’s #1 featherweight) vs. Steven Siler (Miller’s #4). Siler thinks that people don’t believe in his skills, but Team Bisping isn’t taking him lightly, especially because Brandao’s cardio is a little lacking during practice. Still, Bisping is excited to see what the half-crazy Brazilian can do.
So let’s get to know the fighters a little better. Diego’s father died when he was young. On his deathbed, he asked Diego to take care of the family. And so, Diego did “horrible shit” to make money for his family. He sold drugs, never went to school, etc., but eventually got into MMA in order to avoid dying on the street. Siler really misses his girlfriend. Advantage: Diego.
Let’s just get this over with…
Round 1: It’s a classic gong-and-dash, with Diego sprinting at Siler for a flying knee off the bell. It misses, but he throws a follow-up overhand right that lands flush. They trade leg kicks, then punches. Diego is a little wild, as advertised. Diego lands another overhand right. He fires another flying knee then swarms with power punches until he finds Siler’s off-button. Siler never had a chance. Diego Brandao is in the semi-finals, and it only took him 30 seconds to get there.
Dana White observes that the whole room went silent after Brandao’s TKO victory. Diego put the featherweights on notice. The score now sits at 4-2, Team Miller.
Like a true sportsman, Bisping follows Miller back to the prep-rooms, gloating the whole time. ”I don’t understand what makes Michael such an asshole,” Miller tells us. “Possibly he has a small penis, I don’t know, but…he’s a dick.”
There are two more bantamweight fights left, and Team Bisping debates how they want to arrange things. It’s assumed that John Dodson (Miller’s #1 BW) is a much tougher fight than Roland Delorme (Miller’s #4 BW). So do they use TJ Dillashaw to take out Dodson, or give him the easy fight to ensure his advancement to the semis. It’s clear that Dillashaw wants the easy path, which bothers Josh Ferguson: “If TJ’s so badass, why don’t he prove it and fight John right away, and not be a pussy about it?”
Complicating things is the fact that Roland’s foot has swollen up mysteriously, and he might have a staph infection. Miller sends him to get it checked out, and tries to keep the situation under wraps.
Bisping finally gets to announce a fight selection, and he uses the opportunity to give the assembled fighters and coaches some constructive suggestions on how not to handle yourself. For example: Don’t shoot for a double-leg takedown when your fight is announced. Take your loss like a man. Don’t attack people after the fight is over. Don’t squirt water on people. My God, it seems to go on forever.
Eventually, Bisping announces John “Prince” Albert (his #3 bantamweight) vs. John Dodson. “He’s practically a member of Team Bisping anyway,” Bisping tells Miller. “He didn’t want to be on your team in the first place.” The general consensus is that Albert is fucked. But hey, it’s all in the game. The last fight, obviously, is TJ Dillashaw vs. Roland Delorme, but Roland isn’t around for the face-off. Still, Miller vows that he’ll be there for the fight.
Team Miller is still treating Dodson like a snitch. But how could you stay mad at that face? Dodson’s energy and humor are melting Mayhem’s heart. His gymnastic antics in the gym are impressive — he’s clearly ultra-talented — but he’s also a bit lazy when pressured. As he explains, fighting’s supposed to be fun, and he can’t help goofing around in practice. But he’ll be serious when it’s time to fight. Which it is…
Round 1: Albert throws a high kick. Dodson barrels in with punches. Body kick Dodson. Head kick Dodson. Inside combo again from Dodson. Albert isn’t using his reach; the tiny man is hitting/running without impunity. Dodson with a teep and body shot. They exchange leg kicks. High kick Dodson. Dodson lands a punch from clinch, tosses Albert down, and swarms on him when he gets to his feet. Albert survives the assault and drags Dodson to the mat. Dodson transitions to top position. Albert escapes, gets to his feet. A pair of jabs from Albert land, then a Brazilian kick. Knee to the body from Dodson. Body kick from Albert. They trade punches. Dodson with a head kick and a body kick. Albert with a teep. Dodson returns a body kick. He sticks and moves, a body kick followed by a punch. Albert grabs on in the closing seconds, but Dodson shrugs him off and slugs him with hammerfists to the bell. John Dodson takes the first round easy.
Round 2: Dodson opens with a leg kick. He slips to the mat and gets clipped in the balls, but shrugs it off. Albert lands a body kick. Dodson attacks with punches, working the body. Leg kick Albert, head kick Dodson. Dodson brushes Albert back with punches. Albert jabbing, then a kick to the body as Dodson begins to slow down. Albert tries to grab Dodson’s back but immediately loses the position and Dodson is on top. Albert escapes. Dodson comes in to clinch, Albert flops to his back, Dodson disengages. Dodson punches his leg. Body kick Albert. Albert puts his hands on hips for a split-second, looking to suck some air, and almost gets tagged for it, but he pulls it together and lands a jab. Dodson jumps in and slams Albert down in the closing seconds. Albert looks for a triangle from the bottom but there’s not enough time.
John Dodson wins by unanimous decision (20-18 x 3), but it’s obvious that he coasted throguh that second round. Dodson says he “cheated his way to the semis,” though I still don’t understand how his matchup-leaking benefitted himself.
John Albert is despondent, and cries at the thought of going back to working. “I wanted this to be my life,” he says.
Bisping comes by to congratulate Miller, pretending to be the bigger man, but it doesn’t last. “You won one,” he says. (Actually, it’s five now, but we already know that math isn’t Bisping’s strong suit.) Miller ignores Bisping, standing with his back turned to the Count. “Back off to Bully Beatdown,” Bisping says, walking away. “Well, I know one bully,” Bisping says. And at this point, I think most of us want to see that bully get what’s coming to him.
Vila vs. Galvao, part one. Part two is after the jump. All videos in this post via YouTube.com/BFCLUB
Last night’s Bellator 55 in Yuma, Arizona, didn’t have the quick finishes of last week’s card, but still left fans in attendance with some interesting, if not controversial, fights. In case you couldn’t tell by the headline, the bantamweight tournament semifinals gave us Eduardo Dantas vs. Alexis Vila as the bantamweight tournament finale. Yet both fights seemed to involve controversial decisions made by the judges.
In the main event of the evening, WEC veteran Marcos Galvao took on Alexis Vila, who you may remember as the guy that practically zombified Joe Warren in the bantamweight quarterfinals. In an extremely fast paced fight, Galvao seemed to land more strikes, and as the fight went on, stuff Vila’s takedown attempts. However, the strikes that Vila landed seemed much harder. The judges gave the fight to Alexis Vila, which warranted boos from those in attendance. Watch the fight and judge for yourself whether or not the boos were justifiable.
Vila vs. Galvao, part one. Part two is after the jump. All videos in this post via YouTube.com/BFCLUB
Last night’s Bellator 55 in Yuma, Arizona, didn’t have the quick finishes of last week’s card, but still left fans in attendance with some interesting, if not controversial, fights. In case you couldn’t tell by the headline, the bantamweight tournament semifinals gave us Eduardo Dantas vs. Alexis Vila as the bantamweight tournament finale. Yet both fights seemed to involve controversial decisions made by the judges.
In the main event of the evening, WEC veteran Marcos Galvao took on Alexis Vila, who you may remember as the guy that practically zombified Joe Warren in the bantamweight quarterfinals. In an extremely fast paced fight, Galvao seemed to land more strikes, and as the fight went on, stuff Vila’s takedown attempts. However, the strikes that Vila landed seemed much harder. The judges gave the fight to Alexis Vila, which warranted boos from those in attendance. Watch the fight and judge for yourself whether or not the boos were justifiable.
Vila vs. Galvao, part two.
Likewise, Eduardo Dundas stayed very active, pushing the pace for the entire fight during his bout with season three bantamweight tournament finalist Ed West. Dundas ended up getting the decision, but one judge saw the fight for West. We have yet to confirm whether or not that judge confused West with Dundas. And yes, we have videos below so you can judge for yourself.
Also of note, Bellator Light-heavyweight Champion Christian M’Pumbu was involved in a non-title fight with YAMMA Pit Fighting champion Travis Wiuff. M’Pumbu, who doesn’t cut weight for his fights, spent the first two rounds on his back, being overpowered by the much larger Wiuff. While M’Pumbu managed to almost finish Wiuff in the third round, it wasn’t enough, as Wiuff defeated M’Pumbu. While Travis Wiuff doesn’t get the title for his efforts, it’s safe to say the man has earned a spot in next season’s light-heavyweight tournament. This marks the first non-title superfight in Bellator where the champion has lost to the challenger. Also, lightweight prospect RicardoTirloni earned the main card’s only finish by quickly choking out Steve Gable. Tirloni improves to 14-1 with the victory.
MAIN CARD (MTV2):
Alexis Vila def. Marcos Galvao by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Eduardo Dantas def. Ed West by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Travis Wiuff def. Christian M’Pumbu by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ricardo Tirloni def. Steve Gable by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 2 (3:54)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com):
Richard Hale def. Carlos Flores by knockout (punch) Rd 1 (:18)
Kobe Ortiz def. Edgar Garcia by knockout (punch) Rd 1 (4:06)
Erin Beach def. Roscoe Jackson by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1 (3:52)
Jade Porter def. Nick Piedmont by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Steve Steinbeiss def. Dano Moore by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1 (4:52)
