Bellator 176: “Carvalho vs. Manhoef” takes place at Pala Alpitour in Torino, Italy, this Saturday afternoon (April 8, 2017) with a special broadcast time of 3 p.m. ET on Spike TV. The main event features a long-awaited rematch between Middleweight world champion Rafael Carvalho against Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef.
The tensions have been brewing since their indecisive meeting in Boise last year with Manhoef insisting he won the first fight, while Carvalho saying he’s a coward who won’t take any risks to get what he wants. One way or another, they’ll settle this war of words this weekend.
Unfortunately, one of the three fights supporting this main event has had a last second change. Carrington Banks (6-0) was set for an intriguing match-up of undefeated Lightweights facing Mihail Nica (5-0), but “Jetsetter” has been pulled from the card because of an undisclosed injury.
Samba Coulibaly (11-4) steps in on very late notice to fill the vacancy in this card. The French-born fighter boasts nearly three times the experience of his opponent, had an eight-fight win streak as recently as 2016, and finishes 55 percent of his wins (six of 11) via submission.
Check out the revised Bellator 176 fight card below:
Bellator 176 “Carvalho vs. Manhoef” (Spike TV):
Middleweight: Rafael Carvalho vs. Melvin Manhoef
Catchweight (130): Anastasia Yankova vs. Elina Kallionidou
Lightweight: Samba Coulibaly vs. Mihail Nica
Lightweight: Djamil Chan vs. Valeriu Mircea
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