A middleweight bout has been added to the Bellator 131 card on November 15th in San Diego as Melvin Manhoef will meet Joe Schilling on the main card.
The fight booking was announced during the Bellator 127 main card broadcast on Friday night.
Bellator 131 will come from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California and will be headlined by Tito Ortiz meeting Stephan Bonnar in a light heavyweight bout.
“I’ve said since the day I began my career in combat sports that styles make fights,” Coker said. “I came to Bellator to create the most compelling fights possible, and Manhoef vs. Schilling has the chance to be fight of the night on November 15th. When you put together guys like Manhoef and Schilling, records sort of go out the window. You know when that cage door shuts, these two guys are going to stand up and engage in what should be an insanely entertaining fight. We’ve just added this fight to a card that already features Tito and Bonnar, Chandler and Brooks, and Mo and DeBlass. November 15th is going to be a very fun night, and we’ve got more coming.”
Manhoef (29-11-1 MMA, 37-12 kickboxing) made his Bellator debut two weeks ago and defeated Doug Marshall by knockout in the first round. It was his second straight win in MMA and it was announced that the victory secured him a title shot.
Schilling (1-3 MMA, 17-7 kickboxing) last MMA bout came back in 2008 and he was a finalist in the Glory middleweight tournament in June. All of his MMA bouts have ended in submission and his only victory in MMA came against Maurice Doucette by triangle choke submission.
“My name is Joe Schilling. You might not know it today but you will very soon,” Schilling said, “I’m one if the best strikers on the planet, and if you want to see people got laid the hell out, just watch me fight on November 15th.”
The current Bellator 131: Ortiz vs. Bonnar fight card is below.
Tito Ortiz (17-11) vs. Stephan Bonnar (15-8)
Will Brooks (14-1) vs. Michael Chandler (12-2)
Muhammed Lawal (13-4, 1NC) vs. Tom DeBlass (9-2)
Melvin Manhoef (29-11-1) vs. Joe Schilling (1-3)