Melvin Manhoef is out of #Bellator210 due to injury. @JohnSalter_MMA steps up on short notice to meet @ChidiBangNjoku in the new main event on Nov. 30. pic.twitter.com/SUgIQb8NcU
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) November 1, 2018
An injury to one of the headliners has shaken up the Bellator 210 card on Nov. 30 in Oklahoma, but the promotion quickly found a replacement.
According to Bellator President Scott Coker, middleweight Melvin Manhoef has been forced to withdraw from his main event bout against Chidi Njokuani due to injury. John Salter will step in.
A veteran of almost 50 fights with a knockout rate of 93 percent in his wins, Manhoef was making his return to Bellator after suffering a knockout loss at the hands of then-champ Rafael Carvalho in April 2017.
Salter comes into this bout off of a third-round submission loss a little over a month ago to the undefeated Rafael Lovato Jr. Salter has never gone to the scorecards in any of his 19 fights, and only fought beyond the second frame three times.
Facing Salter will be Njokuani, who after three straight catchweight bouts, finally made the decision to move up to middleweight in his previous fight, which proved successful as he prevailed against Hisaki Kato.
Bellator 210 takes place on Nov. 30 and will also feature the MMA return of Joe Schilling, as well as an intriguing co-main contest pitting David Rickels against Brazilian “Bomba” Guilherme Vasconcelos.