Melvin Manhoef has made a name for himself splitting time between MMA and kickboxing.
This Friday night at Bellator 155, Manhoef (30-12-1) can score the biggest win of his career as he meets Rafael Carvalho for the middleweight title.
Manhoef has put together a 3-1 record with one no-contest over his last five fights, including a November knockout of Hisaki Kato. He’s also finished both Doug Marshall and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
“It means a lot, with all of the hard work and a lot of people writing me off, but I think this is like a new era or new beginning for me and I could become a world champion,” said Manhoef, during a recent press conference. “I think that being a fighter that’s been in the business so long, it has been an achievement already.”
Of his 30 career wins, 28 of them have been knockouts. And with Carvalho anxious to make their five-round contest a stand-up battle, Manhoef is excited.
“I do everything to knock people out,” he said. “So I am glad if (Carvalho) wants to make a kickboxing fight out of it.
“I trained real hard for this fight and my goal is to show it again that you cannot count me out.”
