Lake Charles, LA – (May 20, 2011) —Bellator Fighting Championships will head to the L’Auberge du Lac Event Center for Bellator 45 airing LIVE on MTV2 this Saturday. Bellator 45 features the first-ever Bellator Light Heavyweight World Title Fight between Richard “Rare Breed” Hale and Christian M’Pumbu, a Featherweight Tournament Final Fight featuring Daniel Straus and Patricio Pitbull, and a Middleweight Qualifier bout between Sam Alvey and Karl “Psycho” Amoussou.
Below you will find quotes from several of the main card fighters.
Richard Hale
I think Christian M’Pumbu is going to bring a very well rounded game, but I truly feel like the weight difference is just going to be too much for him to handle. Especially when he realizes that I’m just as quick, if not quicker than he is.
I made the mistake of coming in heavy against DJ Linderman, but I definitely didn’t make that mistake in this fight. I’m coming into this 100% ready for the title fight. I’m right on the money with my weight right now. I’m sitting perfect. I couldn’t feel any better right now.
It would be phenomenal to knock Christian M’Pumbu out to really put punctuation on my road to the title, but I’m actually looking forward to possibly putting him in a submission. He’s kind of been known as a “French submission specialist”, and it would be great to take someone like that out with a submission. It would be great to beat him at his “so-called” own game.
I absolutely see this fight with Christian M’Pumbu ending early. I honestly don’t see it going the full five rounds. I’m going to push the pace, and I’m going to keep that heat on him so he can’t find an opening. I’m going to make him sweat. I’m going to let him know right away that he’s in a fight. This is a world title fight, and I’m going to make him understand why.
I want to just annihilate Christian M’Pumbu in this fight. Not only do I want to establish myself as a champion in this fight, I want to make everyone think, ‘Oh s***, this guy isn’t playing around.’ I want to end this tournament in spectacular fashion, just like I started it.
Patricio Pitbull
Daniel [Straus] is very strong, extremely explosive, and can keep a good pace during the entire fight, but none of these things worry me. I train for that, every day, for all of my fights. That’s my job.
I’m not worried about Daniel Straus’ wrestling ability, specifically. I know he has good wrestling, but he’s not a pure wrestler. He’s not limited by his wrestling, so I have to be prepared for everything and anything, and I will be.
It would be cool to score three knockouts in a row during the tournament, but what matters the most to me is to get the victory. I don’t care how it happens. I just want to make sure it’s my hand that is raised at the end of the fight.
The fact that Joe Warren is waiting for me after I defeat Daniel Straus gives me even more motivation to win this fight. I’m looking forward to having my revenge. However, I know I have a tough fight in front of me, so I’m thinking about Straus first.
I was born to be a champion, and I prepare myself every day of my life for it. Sooner or later it’s going to happen. I will always pursue it, because I’m a Brazilian, and we never give up. The desire to grow is in our nature.
Daniel Straus
I think Patricio Pitbull is a tough guy, but just like anyone – just like me – he has some holes in his game. The majority of my fights have been wars, and I don’t expect anything less out of this fight with Patricio. He’s going to be looking to beat my A-game, and I’m going to be looking to beat his A-game, so that’s what it’s going to come down to.
This fight with Patricio is a huge moment in my career. It has taken me a while to get here, but I think I deserve it. Now, I just want to perform how I know I can and show the world that I deserved it.
I like coming into fights as the underdog. I know what I can do. If others don’t believe in me, that just gives me more motivation to go out there and prove them all wrong. I just have to work my butt off to show everyone that I am a great fighter, and that I’m here for a reason.
I’m always fighting for respect, but for me it’s not about what other people think. It’s all in my head. It’s all about what I believe and think.
I want to knock Patricio out or submit him. I feel like he hasn’t really been tested that way and I’d like to think that I’m the guy that can test his chin, or get him to tap under pressure. He’s just as vulnerable as I am.
I definitely feel like I’m the superior wrestler in this fight with Patricio. If he can’t stop my takedowns or if he can’t take me down, then that’s just his bad. If he can’t stop me from doing what I want to do, then that’s just something he’s going to have to work on.
Karl Amoussou
I think Sam [Alvey] smiles all the time to try to disturb his opponents, but to be honest, I absolutely don’t care. He can have his stupid smile during the stare down and when he enters the cage. I know once he gets rocked by my first punch, his face will change suddenly. Then if he tries to smile again, my other fist will already be in his mouth.
Of course Sam [Alvey] is going to want to stand with me. The guy isn’t crazy enough to try to go to the ground with me. That will be fine for me. I don’t care about going to the ground. I just want to bang and make Sam go to sleep.
I won’t be looking for the submission. I’m coming to knock Sam [Alvey] out. However, if he makes the mistake to put even one knee on the ground, the fight will be over 20 seconds later.
There’s no way this fight goes to the decision. This fight is going to be a crazy war. Sam Alvey is a good fighter, and I know we’ll make a great fight. I want to put on a great fight for the fans and show the world my aggressive, “psycho” style. One of us is going to fall, and unfortunately for Alvey, it’s not going to be me.
I had to correct some holes in my game, and now “Psycho” is back and better than ever. I’m going to be more dangerous than I’ve ever been in my new home – the Bellator cage.
I don’t care who I fight in the upcoming Bellator Middleweight Tournament. I’m going to rock the division and destroy every fighter that stands in front of me. I don’t care where you train or who you are, if you are in my way to the belt, I feel sorry for you.
I have a message for Hector Lombard: I’m coming man. Be cute, take good care of my belt – clean it, make it shine – and be ready to give it to me after I knock you out.
Sam Alvey
Do you know how many times I’ve been told that I wasn’t going to be smiling when my fights were over? I’m 14-2, so that means I’ve been told that sixteen times now. It doesn’t pay off for most people. Karl [Amoussou] can hit me all day long and the fact of the matter is that I’m still going to be smiling after every punch. He’s not going to be able to hit me hard enough to make me stop.
I think my style matches up perfectly with Karl Amoussou’s. Both of us have solid ground games and both of us like to stand and bang. This fight could go in any direction, but it’s going to be 100%, at a really high pace regardless of where we end up.
Karl [Amoussou] might not think I want to the ground with him, but I’m very comfortable on the ground. He can assume whatever he wants, but come fight time, he won’t be able to hang with me, whether it’s standing or on the ground.
This fight is huge for me. Getting in the Bellator Middleweight Tournament has been a goal of mine since Bellator first started. I love the tournament format, and now I just have to beat Karl Amoussou to get in it, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
On top of the pressure and the build up of wanting to get into the tournament, this is my first fight on a nationally televised stage. This is the first fight where hundreds of thousands of people can watch me beat Karl Amoussou. This is huge. I’ve been training like I’ve never trained before for this fight.
I think Karl Amoussou is going to be the toughest opponent I’ve fought so far in my career, and it will also be the biggest accomplishment when I beat him. Once the other fighters in the upcoming Middleweight Tournament see what I do to him, they’re going to be a little nervous to fight me.
I’ve studied Karl Amoussou coming into this fight, so I know I have to be prepared to go a fast three rounds. I’ve expecting for this fight to be fifteen minutes of non-stop action, and that’s what I’m prepared for.
My goal is to either knock Karl Amoussou out immediately and give my future opponents in the tournament almost nothing to study on me, or just dominate Karl for all fifteen minutes. I want to make my future opponents sweat with this performance. I want to make them hope they don’t draw me in the first round.
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