Knockout artists Hisaki Kato and Melvin Manhoef will go toe-to-toe in the main event of Bellator 146 on Friday at the Global Event Center at WinStar World Resorts in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The two men have proven to be sources for spectacular finishes in the past.
MMA fans should have their fingers crossed as they hope for another memorable scrap.
Manhoef epitomizes the concept of feast or famine. He’s coming to KO his opponent, and he’s willing to meet the same fate in the process. In fact, the 39-year-old from the Netherlands has been knocked out five times in his career, though only four have stood as official results.
His most recent bout with Alexander Shlemenko was initially a KO loss via spinning backfist, but the Russian failed a pre-fight drug test and caused the decision to be overturned.
Kato scored his own amazing and devastating KO win in his last fight. Facing former Manhoef conqueror Joe Schilling, Kato torched the world-class kicboxer with a left-hand superman punch that knocked him out cold. Here’s a look at the shot via Sherdog’s YouTube channel:
Expect a similar result on Friday night. Manhoef‘s mandible has been softened more than a jabroni who has been consistently served up to the WWE’s Mick Foley. Having been knocked out so much in his career—without an adjustment to his style—Manhoef is ripe for Kato to pluck with another signature shot.
This one won’t make it out of the first round. Here’s a look at the viewing information, main card, per Bellator.com, and predictions.
Parsons Will Vanquish Jenkins
After two straight stoppage wins in Bellator, “Pretty Boy” Jordan Parsons is taking a major step up against Bubba “The Highlight Kid” Jenkins. The latter is a decorated wrestler, hard hitter and excellent overall athlete.
He is coming off a second-round KO over Joe Wilk in his last fight. In this bout, Parson will enjoy a two-inch height advantage. That will be key as Jenkins will struggle to close the distance. Jenkins is an aggressive fighter by nature, and it will frustrate him to continue to whiff on takedown attempts and strikes from the outside.
His frustration will produce reckless moments, and that will lead to Jenkins getting caught with a head kick or swift punch that drops him. Parson will know what to do from there to secure the win.
Jenkins’ career is beginning to favor Melvin Guillard’s. Both are physically impressive and dynamic talent with questionable defense that leads to losses against good competition.
Campos Will Beat Girtz Again
Brandon Girth and Derek Campos met back in 2013. Campos prevailed via unanimous decision, but the fight was a competitive one. Campos was able to dictate the identity of the first two rounds with his striking. He had Girtz hurt in the first and second rounds, but he couldn’t finish him.
Per an interview with MMA Latest News’ Corey Williams, Campos wants to do what he couldn’t do in the first fight. Campos said:
Every fight is do or die for me. I’m not too happy with my last fight performance against Chandler but I don’t dwell on it and I know what I want to do going into this next fight against Girtz. We have what I call unfinished business. I want to take it to him and finish him this time.
Girtz came back strong in the third with his wrestling. He opened a cut on Campos’ head but couldn’t maintain the position. It looked as if he had won the final round, but it still wasn’t enough to take the fight.
Usually, these rematches favor the striker over the wrestler. Campos is very aware that Girtz will need to take him down, thus his training has probably been focused on takedown and submission defense. Girtz has a larger gap to cover as he tries to circumvent Campos’ edge in striking.
He won’t be able to do it. Instead, a confident Campos will earn a second-round TKO en route to victory in the rematch.
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