Rafael is the current Bellator middleweight champion (Photo: Dave Manderl/Sherdog)
Current Bellator middleweight champion, Raphael Carvalho return to the octagon next Saturday (08), in edition 176, in Turin, Italy, to put his belt on the line against Melvin Manhoef, whom he already faced in his first title defense, in May 2016. On that occasion, the The Brazilian emerged victorious in the judges' split decision, but the tepid and ineffective fight on both sides generated a lot of criticism from MMA fans. According to Carvalho, the more cautious stance adopted was due to having fought injured.
See too
“It's no excuse, but for that fight I had a very complicated training camp. I had one injury after another during training. I fought with an injured shoulder and back. And on the day of the fight I injured my foot, so that's why I adopted a strategic stance. People might say I didn't fight like a champion, but Melvin didn't do more than I did to deserve the victory. Now, when we meet again, it will be a different story”, guaranteed the champion, in an interview with the website 'MMAJunkie' (USA).
Now, almost a year later, Rafael guarantees that the duel will be different from the first time. Better prepared, the champion promised a show against Manhoef.
“No one should take our last fight into account – and now things are personal. The fans won't see Rafael from my last fight. I will be more motivated and better prepared. Last time, I continued training around my injuries. This time I am injury free. This time we are going to do a show. Let's go to war. A soldier who goes to war afraid of dying is a coward, and I am not afraid of dying,” he concluded.
Raphael Carvalho He became the organization's champion by knocking out Brandon Halsey at Bellator 144, in October 2015. In total, there were four victories in four fights held in the company. At 30 years old, he has 13 wins and just one defeat on his record, in his first fight as a professional, in 2011.
Comments