Melvin Manhoef, Simon Biyong Clash Scratched from Bellator Paris

The upcoming Bellator Paris card has just lost some of its most
important protagonists.

Fans attending Bellator
248 won’t see Dutch kickboxer Melvin
Manhoef in action. On Wednesday morning, Dutch combat sports
personality Santiago first reported that Manhoef is out of his
light heavyweight clash with Simon
Biyong (7-1). Bellator
MMA has yet to announce the news, but Sherdog independently
confirmed the report.

The California-based promotion is looking to reschedule the fight
for November.

After coming short of capturing Rafael
Carvalho‘s 185-pound championship on back-to-back occasions,
Manhoef (32-14-1, 1 NC) bounced back by edging Kent
Kauppinen at Bellator 223. In his latest cage appearance, the
44-year-old fighter overcame Yannick
Bahati thanks to a first-round TKO victory at Bellator 230. At
the end of that fight, “No Mercy” was non-committal regarding his
fighting future. Still, it seems that he has found the motivation
to keep going.

The card also lost a scheduled bout between Bellator newcomers
Davy
Gallon (18-7-2) and Brian Hooi
(16-8) Wednesday morning. The pair should have met in a 158-pound
catchweight tussle. Hooi took to Instagram to announce that he
tested positive for COVID-19.

“My fight in Paris has officially been canceled due to a shockingly
sudden positive corona test on my end,” Hooi wrote. “I have no
symptoms at all, I am in striking distance of making weight and
have never felt any better and stronger than right now. I am the
only one in my team who tested positive, despite the fact that
everyone else from my team got tested negative while they were
constantly in my company during the last few weeks.”

Bellator 248 will go down at the Accor Arena in Paris, France, on
Oct. 10. The card will be headlined by a 175-pound catchweight
between Michael
Page (17-1) and former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship king Ross
Houston (8-0, 1 NC). In the co-main event,
Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Oliver
Enkamp (9-2) will lock horns with France’s Emmanuel
Dawa (9-3) in a welterweight affair. The card will also feature
the rematch between Cheick Kongo
(30-10-2, 1 NC) and Timothy
Johnson (14-6) at heavyweight.

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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