Bellator 42 Preview And Breakdown

Added on Apr 22, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Bellator 42 is taking this place Saturday in Concho, Oklahoma at the Lucky Star Casino. The event features two light heavyweight Semi-final fights, and a featherweight bout. The event was supposed to feature a heavyweight fight between Paul Buentello and Cole Konrad, but Buentello was forced off the card with a back injury. Former Sengoku fighter Ronnie Mann is also fighting his first Bellator fight, he was scheduled to fight at Bellator 40 but visa issues kept him out of the country.

Light Heavyweight Semifinal bout

(16-3-1) Richard Hale -130 vs. (9-1) D.J. Linderman +110

Last time we saw Richard Hale he was winning via triangle choke…upside down! A submission of the year candidate for certain, and he is a scrappy fighter who is willing to take chances to win fights. Sometimes thats the only difference in two guys fighting. Hale has a lot of momentum going into this fight, as he is riding a three fight win streak, and he has finished all three fighters (two by submission, and one with strikes.)

Linderman is riding a four fight win streak, after suffering his first first professional loss to Devin Cole in 2009. His advantage in this fight is going to be in the striking, he has submission wins, but they are mostly secured after he stung the fighter with his hands first. He is not going to want to play on the floor with Hale, as Hale has never been submitted, and Hale is not afraid of giving up dominating positions in exchange for a possible submission.

I have to give this one to Richard Hale, and I see him getting a hold of a limb in the end of round 1.

Featherweight bout

(18–2–1 )Ronnie Mann -800 vs. (6-9) Josh Arocho +550

This really seems like a hand picked fight for Ronnie Mann, and the odds reflect it. The only way Josh Arocho wins this fight is if he catches Mann in a submission, and there really isn’t much left to say about the fight. If you are feeling extremely lucky, throw some loot on Arocho, but remember the experience Mann has all over the world fighting people. Mann also happens to be the owner of 11 submission wins, and certainly has the ability to shake the equilibrium of a lot of fighters with his hands. I see Ronnie Mann overwhelming Arocho early in his fight, and I think Arocho will either turtle up, or he will give up his back for a submission.

Light Heavyweight Semifinal bout

(7-0) Tim Carpenter -175 vs. (16-3-1) Christian M’Pumbu +165

The undefeated Tim Carpenter has already piled up two wins in the Bellator cage. To advance to the semifinals he beat Daniel Gracie via split decision at Bellator 38, and prior to that he made his debut with a decision over Jamal Paterson. The Jiu Jitsu fighter only has finishes via submission, and M’Pumbo has only been submitted once in his 20 fight professional career.

M’Pumbo can be a handful on the ground himself, as he has a noted Judo pedigree and submission wins himself. The bad news for his opponents is that he has recently demonstrated some power with his hands. In fact, besides a unanimous decision loss to Yoshiyuki Nakanishim, M’Pumbu has finished 3 of his last four opponents via strikes. To get into the tournament he TKO’d Chris Davis in the third round of a solid scrap.

This one is a toss up for me, as I can see it going both ways. As much European MMA as I watch, I have only seen a few of his fights, and the other things I have found were all just clips. I definitely think there is some money to be made here if you can see a clear way how M’Pumbo wins this fight, but you need to keep in kind that he is fighting an undefeated fighter in Carpenter. I really see M’Pumbo really being able to land on carpenter, and I see it happening in the second round. I don’t see him knocking him out, but I think he will disorient him enough to lock up a choke or an arm bar.