Bellator's season 4 swansong aired Saturday night on MTV2, live from the L'Auberge du Lac Resort Casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The main even was a 5 round affair between Congolese Frenchman Christian M'Pumbu and Rich Hale for the promotions first Light Heavyweight World Championship. An entertaining first round had M'Pumbu circling around Hale's power and dropping the American with a heavy shot just at the 3 and a half minute mark of the 1st round. Hale's length made a difference though as he was able to push M'Pumbu aside and overcome the Frenchman's heavy hammer fists. The bell sounded, and the American got a second wind. The second round was dominated by Hale's length and getting through with left hooks always being able to counter M'Pumbu. After 10 minutes, the fight was a round apiece. The third round started with Hale coming in with a left hand and attempting a takedown, but M'Pumbu was able to switch off and hit with a shot to the body. After what seemed to be an eternity of combinations by both fighters, M'Pumbu landed a right hand with Hale dropping like a ton of bricks with another right hand followed by a combination of hammer fists. Jason Herzog stepped in after that, and at just over the 4 minute mark of the 3rd round, Christian "TonTon" M'Pumbu becomes the 205 lb. kingpin of Bellator. In doing so, He becomes the first African Born World Champion of a major MMA organization.
The co-main event was the finals of the 145 lb. featherweight tournament between wrestler Daniel Straus and Brazilian Patricio Pitbull, younger brother of lightweight Patricky Pitbull. Pitbull certainly came out in the first round and shown he had been working on his wrestling since his Season 2 loss to Joe Warren, as he was constantly stuffing or giving Straus trouble in taking him down, using his low centre of gravity. Although a solid knee by the Brazilian, the first round was close although Pitbull won 10-9. A second round was grinded out by Pitbull's solid takedown attempt, and he was able to grind out a 2 round lead despite a illegal elbow (more on that later). The third round was controlled by the Brazilian, and he was able to win by unanimous decision by a 30-27 (twice) and 29-28. In doing so, Pitbull secures a rematch with the only man to defeat him, Joe Warren.
Other winners included "Smiling" Sam Alvey, who despite taking a heavy shot by Frenchman Karl Amoussou which left him with a cut deep in the back of his head, was able to take a split decision and secure a spot in the Bellator season 5 middleweight tournament, set to begin in September.
Honorable Mention : Jason Herzog has to be one of the worst officials I have ever seen. The 205 lb. main event should have ended as soon as M'Pumbu landed the right hand on Hale, as the "Rare Breed" was out and took more shots than necessary, as Herzog hesitated before getting in between. Also, the knee to the head called by him was not even close to the head, as it landed on the body and even both Straus and Pitbull were confused.
Also with his death this week at 58, Macho Man Randy Savage was called out during the main event, as Sean Wheelock even referred to his feud with George "The Animal" Steele as "one of his favourites" with Jimmy Smith calling for a flying elbow. Somehow, I don't see that working off the Bellator cage.
Sam Alvey coming out with the "Bellator" name shaved into his head, only to lose a lot of blood and be on the track to losing before turning it on late.
Once again, this card concludes Bellator's 4th season. Its next card will kick off its "Summer Series" in June, with the first bouts of an announced Bantamweight tournament featuring Featherweight Champion Joe Warren and Wilson Gustao.
Until next time, fight fans!.
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