Melvin Manhoef: “It’s the last fight of the contract for BELLATOR and I think this is a great opponent to say farewell to all the fans”

DUBLIN, IRELAND – Just days away from another historic event in Dublin, Ireland, the fighters of BELLATOR MMA 285: Henderson vs. Queally spoke to the media today ahead of their fights scheduled for this Friday, September 23 at the 3Arena.

Headlined by a five-round main event between No. 3-ranked Benson “Smooth” Henderson (29-11) and hometown hero and No. 5-ranked Peter “The Showstopper” Queally (13-6-1), BELLATOR 285 is supported by a delicious cast of MMA’s top talent, with legends of the sport, local stars and international challengers hoping to crash the Irish party.

The co-main event features No. 8-ranked light heavyweight veteran Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero (14-6) taking on another legend of the sport in Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef (32-15-1).

The main card will air live in the US on SHOWTIME at 4 pm ET/1 pm ET.

Overseas, the main card will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer and in Ireland on Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Sport from 9pm BST. The preliminary card will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC iPlayer and in Ireland on Virgin Media from 6pm BST.

MELVIN MANHOEF: NO.9 RATED BELLATOR LIGHTWEIGHT: “Yeah, I think it’s going to be everything. Because right now? It is the last fight of the BELLATOR contract. I think I’ve done a lot of things, and I think this is a great opponent to say goodbye to all the fans. This is going to be a great fight, and the fans will be the winners. I expect it to be like a Cyborg fight – he just goes in and punches.” “I hope he is in the best shape of him and I will be in the best shape. I don’t have to lie, facts count. I have 29 knockouts. I have that power. I’m going to be there and do what I’ve enjoyed all along. I have no expectation. The only expectation is that I want to win this fight.” “I think it’s time. But for everyone, I really feel alive when I was in this training camp. I’ve been doing this for 28 years, so it’s hard, but I have to leave it to the next generation.” “I think everyone knows the Mark Hunt fight. They realize. This is something special when you see how small I am. I think I’ve done a lot, and because of what I was able to do with my body type, I did amazing things. He fought middleweight, light heavyweight, he fought K-1, he knocked out the big guys. It was fun. I loved it. I think I gave people a lot of fun to watch.” “We have a lot of power in our hands. In the first, it may be a game of chess. So, it’s going to be war. I want the fans to stand up. If this is the last one, I want people to remember it.” “I was here taking a curve and the crowd was incredible. I said ‘Hey, I want to fight here’. It was a shame I couldn’t fight in Paris, but now I can fight in Ireland. It is special if you fight on this card. For me, it’s a good time. I have a lot of people who come from Holland to support me and be here in the last one”. “The hand is good. Everything is perfect now. The guys wanted to rob my house, I caught them and I was a little pissed off. They gave me like five or six points. He recovered well. The minute I bumped his car into my car, I ran and broke their window, they said, ‘No, Manhoef, please!’” “Why shouldn’t I fight him? He is flesh and blood, right? I have been in so many wars. Is he going to hit harder than Mark Hunt? I know he can hit, but I can too. They should respect what I’ve done. If I touch you, I touch you good… I have a game plan, but if you touch me, we’re going to fight. All the losses that I had, I was hitting everyone. Even though they got the ‘W’, I know I can do something, so we’ll see what happens on Friday.”

BELLATOR 285: HENDERSON VS. QUEALLY FIGHT CARD:

MAIN CARD: SHOWTIME (US) / BBC Three (UK) / Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Sport (IRELAND)Friday September 23: 9pm GMT/4pm ET/1pm PT

Lightweight fight: #3: Benson Henderson (29-11) vs. #5: Peter Queally (13-6-1) Light heavyweight fight: #7: Yoel Romero (14-6) vs. #9: Melvin Manhoef ( 32)-15-1)Women’s Featherweight Fight: #5-Leah McCourt (6-2) vs. #9-Dayana Silva (10-7)Featherweight Fight: #3-Mads Burnell (16-4) vs. #5-Pedro Carvalho (12-6) Featherweight fight: Ciaran Clarke (5-0) vs. Raphael Hudson (5-3)

PRELIMINARY CARD: BELLATOR MMA YouTube Channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel | Pluto TV (US) BBC iPlayer (UK) | Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Sport (IRELAND) 6pm GMT/1pm ET/10am PT

Bantamweight fight: Brett Johns (18-3) vs. Jordan Winski (12-3) Bantamweight fight: Brian Moore (14-9) vs. Arivaldo Lima da Silva (19-10) Light heavyweight fight: #6-Karl Albrektsson (13-3) vs. Karl Moore (9-2) Lightweight fight: Darragh Kelly (1-0) vs. Kye Stevens (3- 1, 1 NC) Lightweight fight: Georgi Karakhanyan (31-13-1) vs. Kane Mousah (13-4) Featherweight fight: Kenny Mokhonoana (3-0) vs. Alex Bodnar (4-1) Featherweight fight: Asael Adjoudj (3-1) vs. Jordan Barton (7-2) Welterweight fight: Dante Schiro (9-3) vs. Luca Poclit (7-1)

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer and Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. He is passionate about combat sports and also hosts a podcast for Sitting Ringside. He is also a former MMA Fighter and Kickboxer.

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