Apparently knocking out Joe Schilling can earn you headlining status.
Hisaki Kato will meet Melvin Manhoef in the middleweight main event of Bellator 146 on Nov. 20 at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., the promotion announced Tuesday.
In his Bellator debut, Kato (5-1) finished Schilling, one of the best American kickboxers, via vicious second-round knockout with a Superman punch at Bellator 139 in June. The Japanese fighter was coming off a loss heading into that fight. Kato, 32, has experience in judo and karate and spends time training in France.
Manhoef (29-12-1, 2 NC) has been known as one of the most entertaining fighters in MMA for sometime. The Dutchman last fought in February when he lost to Alexander Shlemenko via knockout. However, that result was overturned by the California State Athletic Commission when Shlemenko tested positive for steroids. Manhoef, 39, is a veteran of Strikeforce, K-1, Dream and ONE Championship.
Also announced Tuesday was a fight involving the popular Brennan Ward at Bellator 144 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., on Oct. 23. Ward will meet Dennis Olson (14-9), who is coming off a TKO loss to Paul Daley in July. Ward (11-3) has won two in a row, the latest a knockout of Roger Carroll in July.
Bellator 144 is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Marcos Galvao and Eduardo Dantas. In the co-main event, Brandon Halsey will try to recapture the middleweight title against Rafael Carvalho.