Bellator 91 Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico Thursday, February 28, 2013 Light Heavyweight Title fight: Attila Veigh (-170) vs. Christian M’Pumbu (+140) Fight Breakdown: For the first time since winning the title in May 2011, Bellator World Light Heavyweight Champion Christian M’Pumbu puts his belt on the line. He takes on Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament winner Attila Veigh in the five-round main event of Bellator 91. This should be an exciting scrap for however long it lasts, because I don’t see it going the full 25 minutes. M’Pumbu (18-4-1) hasn’t fought since October 2011, when he lost a dubious decision to Travis Wiuff in a non-title bout. It’s because of that fight that many observers of the sport consider M’Pumbu a paper champion, and he needs to beat Veigh to prove all the doubters wrong. However, that’s a heck of a long layoff for the 35-year-old Congo native, who will probably experience some form of ring rust in the early going of this fight. Although he has been bashed by fans and labelled as overrated, M’Pumbu isn’t that bad of a fighter. He has decent striking and power as exemplified by his seven career T/KOs, as well as an underrated submission game that has seen him win eight fights via tapout, including a win over current UFC Heavyweight contender Stefan Struve back in 2007. And don’t forget that when he won the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament a few years back he took out Richard Hale, Tim Carpenter and Chris Davis all by TKO, so he’s definitely capable of putting on a good performance when matched against the right man. Vegh (28-4-2) hasn’t competed since last July, when he defeated common opponent Wiuff via KO. However, just because he had more success against Wiuff doesn’t mean that this fight will play out similarly; after all, we know MMA math simply doesn’t work. To his credit, Vegh is a well-rounded fighter with power that has seen him finish 10 opponents by knockout. He also has a decent submission game that has seen him win 11 fights via tapout. The 27-year-old is also on quite the win streak, as he’s won eight straight bouts, including wins over Emanuel Newton, Zelg Galesic and Dan Spohn in Bellator. In this particular fight his best chance to win will be to take M’Pumbu down and work from the top against him like Wiuff did, but it’s possible he also tries to stand and bang with M’Pumbu, which may be a bad idea. Fight Prediction: I see the fight taking place in the standup and although it should be competitive, eventually the champion M’Pumbu will wear down the challenger Vegh and take him out with strikes in the third round to retain the Bellator World Light Heavyweight Championship. Adam’s Pick: M’Pumbu via T/KO (click for latest MMA odds) Adam’s Recommended Play: I don’t have a great read on this fight and can’t recommend a bet on either fight. If anything, I think the under 3.5, which is currently at -105, might be the bet to make here because I do see a finish either way, but it might be best to just stay away from this fight from a betting perspective altogether.
