First and Worst is an ongoing series for MMARatings.net, where every week Adam will make his pick for the best and worst newly-announced fight of the past week (Monday to Sunday). If you’d like to see any additions to this series, hit him up on Twitter @MMAdamMartin.
First: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Diego Nunes, Bellator 99
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight fight at Bellator 99 between Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Diego Nunes, which is a quarterfinal matchup in the next 145-pound Bellator tourney.
I love this matchup, and I’ll tell you why.
First off I have to give Bellator kudos for giving Nunes, the former UFC fighter, a tough challenge in the form of “Pitbull” right off the bat. They could have easily matched up Nunes with one of the lesser-known fighters in the tournament, but instead they decided to give him “Pitbull,” who lost a razor-thin split decision to Pat Curran at Bellator 85 that cost him a chance to hold the Bellator world featherweight championship.
Both “Pitbull” and Nunes are exciting fighters with varied standup attacks and I expect both of these fighters to put on a show for the fans when they fight this fall. Although I favor “Pitbull” because he’s looked sharper in his last few fights, Nunes is still a fighter who could be fighting in the UFC, and he could present a number of problems for “Pitbull” in what should be an intriguing matchup between two Brazilians.
Bellator was smart to book this fight for their 99th event because it should be full of action for however long it lasts, and hopefully it’s exciting enough that people forget what the dreaded main event of the evening is, the bout that I’ll write about below as the worst fight announcement of the past week.
Worst: Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Christian M’Pumbu, Bellator 99
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming Bellator light heavyweight fight between Vladimir Matyushenko and Christian M’Pumbu, which headlines Bellator 99.
Yes, this really is the main event of an MMA card in 2013, and no, you’re not alone in thinking this fight sucks.
Because it honestly does. With all due respect to Matyushenko, he should have retired when the UFC cut him back in January following back-to-back stoppage losses in the Octagon, and I was shocked when Bellator decided to give him one more chance. Sure, those losses came to Alexander Gustafsson and Ryan Bader, but this is a 42-year-old fighter, and it’s not like his chin or his skills are going to get any better.
Luckily for Matyushenko he’ll be taking on M’Pumbu, who recently lost the Bellator world light heavyweight championship. It’s pretty sad that this guy was actually Bellator’s 205-pound champ, but it shows how shallow that organization’s light heavyweight division is, because M’Pumbu is a guy who wouldn’t even sniff the UFC roster.
This is an awful matchup between two fighters who aren’t relevant and it’s a joke that it’s headlining Bellator’s 99th event. Sorry Bellator, but no one is staying in on a Friday night to watch this fight.
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Bellator 99 will take place on September 13, 2013 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
Click the stars to rate how good you think Bellator 99 will be.
