Bellator 125 is now set for the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on September 19th and the fight card will be headlined by a middleweight bout as former tournament winner Doug Marshall meets Melvin Manhoef.
The fight booking was announced by Bellator in a press release today.
Along with announcing the main event, the promotion also announced the other three main card bouts, which will be James Irvin (17-10) vs. Brian Rogers (11-6), Martin Stapleton (13-3) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (17-2), and Javy Ayala (7-3) vs. Raphael Butler (8-0-1).
Tickets for the event will be on sale Friday, August 15th at 10am PST and will be available at the Save Mart Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com or Bellator.com.
Marshall (18-7) will be entering this fight following a suspension from his Bellator 109 defeat to middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. The defeat snapped a four fight winning streak for Marshall, who calls this fight against Manhoef “a dream come true.”
“This fight is like a dream come true,” Marshall said. “Two heavy hitters going for broke. It’s a classic don’t blink fight. Bet the house someone is going to sleep before the first round is over. And to be able to have this type of fight in front of all my friends and family that I grew up with makes it that much sweeter.”
Manhoef (28-11-1, 1NC) has won four of his last six fights and this will be his debut in Bellator. His most recent MMA bout came in April as he defeated Evangelista Santos by TKO in 46 seconds to win the Gringo Super Fight Welterweight title.
The current Bellator 125: Marshall vs. Manhoef fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Doug Marshall (18-7) vs. Melvin Manhoef (28-11-1, 1NC)
James Irvin (17-10) vs. Brian Rogers (11-6)
Martin Stapleton (13-3) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (17-2)
Javy Ayala (7-3) vs. Raphael Butler (8-0-1)