Melvin Manhoef is closing in on 19 years of rendering poor souls unconscious.
The veteran mixed martial artist and kickboxer claimed another victim on Saturday, knocking out Doug Marshall at 1:45 of the first round of their middleweight bout at Bellator 125 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Making his Bellator MMA debut, Manhoef went to work on Marshall (18-8) with inside and outside leg kicks before throwing a right hand to the temple that turned the lights off. Referee Jason Herzog stopped the 185-pound contest instantly.
After the fight, Bellator announced Manhoef, who has been fighting professionally since December 1995, will face the winner of next weekend's title fight between champion Alexander Shlemenko and Brandon Halsey in Phoenix.
"People, I know you love Doug," Manhoef said. "Doug, all respect. He's a great fighter. He stepped up and got the short end of this fight. I'm very happy to be in Bellator. I want to kiss [Bellator president] Scott [Coker]. I won't let you down."
Manhoef has now recorded 27 career knockouts in his MMA career. He fought for Coker twice under the Strikeforce banner, in 2010 and 2011, against Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy. Manhoef lost both fights in the first round.
His Bellator debut was smooth sailing, however, as he slipped wild haymakers from Marshall and set up the final punch with a feinted right hand down the middle. His only hiccup was an accidental kick to the groin, seconds into the contest.
Manhoef improves to 2-0 in his last two fights, after going 0-2 in the sport in 2013. He's still an active kickboxer outside of the cage.
In other bouts on the main card:
Middleweight Rafael Cavalho (10-1) of Rio de Janeiro defeated Brian Rogers (11-6) by TKO at 3:06 of the first round.
Heavyweight Javy Ayala (8-3), of California submitted Raphael Butler (8-1-1) via rear-naked choke at 1:03 of the first round.
Featherweight Goiti Yamauchi (18-2), of Japan submitted Martin Stapleton (13-4) via rear-naked choke at 4:37 of the first round.
