After scoring a controversial decision victory over Melvin Manhoef the first time around, Rafael Carvalho made sure their Bellator 176 middleweight title fight wouldn’t suffer the same result.
In the fourth round, Carvalho landed a head-kick that floored Manhoef, securing him the win. The card took place from the Pala Alpitour in Torino, Italy and aired on Spike.
Carvalho (14-1) has won his last 14 fights, including five inside the Bellator cage. He claimed the title with a 2015 finish of Brandon Halsey.
“The last fight didn’t go as I expected or like the public expected,” Carvalho said. “This fight I knew that there needed to be an undisputed winner with a finish and I’m very glad that I was the one who came away with the victory.
“I’m going to continue to defend my middleweight title here at Bellator, but I’m also interested in a super fight in our light heavyweight division or maybe a bout in Bellator Kickboxing. That would be fun for me.”
The co-main event saw Anastasia Yankova remain unbeaten with a decision victory over Elina Kallionidou. Despite some concern over her weight, Yankova stated plans to work towards competing at 125 pounds in the future.
“I feel okay after this fight. My face looks much better right now than it did after my last fight,” Yankova said “It wasn’t perfect but I’m improving every day and I’ll continue to train hard with Mike [Swick] at AKA Thailand. I am working to get my weight down to 125 pounds where I want to soon be Bellator’s champion.”
Valeriu Mircea score a decision over Djamil Chan and Mihail Nica submitted Samba Coulibaly with an Anaconda choke.
