Before Melvin Manhoef rides off into the sunset, he hopes to capture Bellator gold.
“No Mercy” understands he doesn’t have too much time left in active mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. After years of putting his body on the line, Manhoef is hoping that tomorrow night (April 8) he can defeat Rafael Carvalho to capture the Bellator middleweight championship.
Manhoef told MMAJunkie.com that he wants to give the fans who have supported him throughout the years something to celebrate:
“I’m going to put more pressure; I’m going to come forward more. I have some things I’ve been working on of what I have to aim for. There are fans who want exciting fights, and sometimes I don’t win those fights. Then there are fans who want me to be the champion. I think my real fans would say after all these years of fighting hard and giving a lot of fights with knockouts, they can appreciate that I was in the moment. I had to have the patience and the game plan and everything to be become the champion. I want to become the people’s champion and Bellator’s champion, and I want to become champion for myself because it’s very important. I know it’s very weird to compare fights with all my knockouts. I know it’s something different, but I think the fans who really love me appreciated the fight, and they should also appreciate I want to get the title and I want to be the champion no matter what.”
