Report: Melvin Manhoef vs. Corey Anderson Headlines Bellator 251 on November 5th.

Mandatory Credit: Bellator MMA

Former UFC light heavyweight contender, Corey 'Overtime' Anderson has an opponent nailed down for his first appearance under the Bellator MMA banner. On November 5th. in the main event of Bellator 251 - the Illinois native is slated to meet with veteran knockout artist, Melvin 'No Mercy' Manhoef - with the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut expected to host the event. 

Suriname born finisher, Manhoef is on a two-fight winning run, fresh from a first-round knockout win over Yannick Bahati at Bellator 230 in October of last year. The stoppage marked Manhoef's whopping twenty-ninth professional knockout. 

Recently putting pen to paper on a multi-fight deal with the organization, The Ultimate Fighter 19 victor Anderson, enters the promotion hoping to rebound to the winner's enclosure following a knockout defeat to current UFC light heavyweight best, Jan Błachowicz at UFC Fight Night Rio Rancho in February. 

Scoring his second consecutive win opposite the above mentioned, Bahati - Manhoef had scored a unanimous decision win over Kent Kauppinen at Bellator 223 in June of last year. The judging win snapped a two-fight slide opposite former gold holder, Rafael Carvalho. 

The 44-year-old has scored some eye-catching wins over his twenty-five-year career, defeating the likes of Evangelista Santos (x2), Ian Freeman, Shugo Oyama, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Hunt, Kazuo Mizaki, and Denis Kang.

Anderson's first-round knockout loss to Polish finisher, Błachowicz earlier this year - snapped a four-fight rise for the 31-year-old. In the best run of his stint with the promotion, Anderson has scored wins opposite Johnny Walker, Ilir Latifi, one-time title challenger, Glover Teixeira, and, Patrick Cummins.