Melvin Manhoef made his Bellator debut on Friday night in Fresno, California and he stopped Doug Marshall in less than two minutes in the main event of the fight card.
During Manhoef’s post fight interview in the cage, Jimmy Smith stated that Bellator MMA President Scott Coker told him that Manhoef would be next up for a title shot after next week’s title fight.
“Where is Scott, I want to kiss him,” Manhoef said. “I love you man and thank you very much. I will not let you down.”
Current Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will be defending the title next week in Phoenix, Arizona as he is challenged by season ten tournament winner Brandon Halsey. The title fight will headline Bellator 126 and it will be the fourth title defense for Shlemenko since winning the vacant title at the beginning of last year.