Melvin Manhoef has seen his better days, but the nuclear power he houses in his fists nevertheless makes him a must-see attraction for Bellator MMA.
The 39-year-old Manhoef will meet Japanese upstart Hisaki Kato in the Bellator 146 main event on Friday at the Winstar World Casino and Resort and Thackerville, Okla. While the matchup carries no real immediate significance for Bellator’s middleweight division, it promises almost certain violence: Manhoef and Kato have delivered a remarkable 94 percent of their 34 combined victories by knockout or technical knockout.
Manhoef suffered a second-round KO loss to Alexander Shlemenko in February, but the result was later changed to a no-contest when the Russian tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.