If there was any doubt lingering over who should’ve won last year’s Bellator middleweight championship bout between Rafael Carvalho and Melvin Manhoef, all doubt was put to rest Saturday at Bellator 176 in Turin, Italy, as Carvalho shut Manhoef’s lights out with a brutal head kick in the fourth round.
Carvalho, now 14-1 in his career with an undefeated 5-0 record in Bellator, wasn’t doing so hot for the majority of the fight, as Manhoef was able to give the champion fits through the first three rounds. But all it took was one opening for Carvalho to strike, and strike he did.
The kick landed flush on Manhoef’s right cheek and silenced the crowd. Not out of disappointment, but out of shock.
The victory over Manhoef was Carvalho’s second win over the challenger and his second title defense.
It will be interesting to see who Bellator gives Carvalho next after his less than stellar performance, even though he did win by knockout.
Main Card Results
Rafael Carvalho def. Melvin Manhoef via knockout (Round 4, 3:15)
Anastasia Yankova def. Elina Kallionidou via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Mihail Nica def. Samba Coulibaly via submission (anaconda choke) (Round 1, 0:36)
Valeriu Mircea def. Djamil Chan via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Yankova takes care of business
Since Anastasia Yankova couldn’t make the 125-pound weight limit, her fight against 18-year-old prospect Eilina Kallionidou was set as a 133-pound catchweight bout. But even though Yankova showed up Saturday overweight, she didn’t have too much trouble against the teenager.
The fight didn’t have many great moments, but Yankova outlasted Kallionidou in the three rounds and won by unanimous decision mainly because she outworked the youngster and kept ring control for the majority of the fight.
Kallionidou had some good moments, but she just couldn’t keep Yankova at a distance with her jab, which allowed the Russian to sweep under Kallionidou’s lead punch and get inside for some strikes to the midsection.
You wouldn’t know it by watching the fight, but Kallionidou was a massive underdog heading into the co-main event of the evening, and even though she lost, she gained a lot of experience. There’s no doubt her stock increased after this one.
As for Yankova, the win was expected. But she might lose some confidence from the organization after showing up overweight. It’ll be worth monitoring whether the organization looks to book her for another fight anytime soon.
Nica makes quick work of Coulibaly
Saying that Mihail Nica is a dangerous fighter is an understatement; he is downright terrifying.
in his six career fights, the 26-year-old has finished all of his opponents (three KO, four submission) with five of the six finishes coming inside the first round. The other was a second-round TKO.
It didn’t take long for Nica to show why he is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division after submitting Samba Coulibaly with an anaconda choke.
In fact, it only took 36 seconds for the Moldovan to get Coulibaly on the ground and force the tap.
It’s hard to ignore Nica’s talents any longer, and it won’t be long before he starts getting booked against fighters in the top five of the 170-pound division. There isn’t much more to say about this fight since it didn’t last long, but it would be wise to keep an eye on Nica’s stock in the future because Bellator’s welterweight division is loaded with great fighters, and Nica could soon be one of them.
Mircea wins over judges in too-close to call fight
Valeriu Mircea vs. Djamil Chan was one of the more exciting fights at Bellator 176, and it went down to the wire.
It can be argued that Chan deserved the victory or at the least—and probably the most fair result—a draw. But Mircea did have some good moments in the fight and earned the majority-decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28) victory.
Chan was able to get Mircea on the ground a lot during the fight, but for some reason, Mircea was the more active fighter while on his back than Chan was, even though he had the dominant position. It was a weird fight because Chan did so much work and did everything he had to do to get into position to win, but he just couldn’t put combinations together to make any significant impact.
For Mircea, the victory was his first for Bellator. He will look to improve his takedown defense moving forward. As for Chan, he needs to work on being a little bit more creative when in top position.
If he can learn how to transition from full guard to a side-mount/full-mount position and lay down some ground-and-pound, he could go a long way.
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