Watch: Ex-UFC star Corey Anderson gets TKO win on Bellator debut against Melvin Manhoef

Former UFC Light Heavyweight contender, Corey Anderson, made a huge statement with a TKO win in his Bellator MMA debut against kickboxing legend Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 251.

In the aftermath of his impressive win, Corey Anderson suggested that he’d like his next fight to be for the Bellator Light Heavyweight title.

Melvin Manhoef, who’s regarded by many as an extremely dangerous striker, suffered a vicious TKO loss at the hands of Corey Anderson in their Bellator 251 main event bout.

Corey Anderson employed a grappling-heavy strategy against the feared KO artist Melvin Manhoef, with the former achieving a considerable amount of success right from the initial stages of the fight.

The former UFC fighter succeeded in securing takedowns at will and controlled Melvin Manhoef on the mat, landing decent ground and pound whilst also ensuring that the kickboxing legend had to expend a significant amount of energy in a bid to get back to his feet.

Although Melvin Manhoef did threaten Corey Anderson, having brief success in the striking exchanges on the feet, superior wrestling abilities of the Bellator debutant turned the fight into one that was largely contested on the ground.

Corey Anderson eventually unleashed a relentless assault of elbows and punches against Manhoef from the top position, with the referee waving off the fight in round two and declaring Anderson the winner by way of TKO.

🗣 "Whoever's got that strap..come see me!"@CoreyA_MMA has his sights set on #Bellator gold!#Bellator251 pic.twitter.com/eYXhNp626m

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) November 6, 2020

Took 7 years to figure out how to properly drop the elbow in ground and pound. Better late than never. 🤷🏿‍♂️ https://t.co/JIFHl45sAd

— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) November 6, 2020

Corey Anderson vs. Melvin Manhoef was one of several intriguing fights at Bellator 251

Apart from the main event matchup between Corey Anderson and Melvin Manhoef, the Bellator 251 fight card featured several other intriguing matchups.

One of the marquee clashes that transpired at the event was the Heavyweight clash between Tyrell Fortune and Said Sowma.

Fortune put on a brilliant display of his grappling prowess against Sowma, although the latter did land a beautiful leg kick and briefly took his opponent's back.

Nevertheless, Fortune outworked Sowma with his brilliant grappling abilities in a back-and-forth affair, en route to a unanimous decision win.

Furthermore, undefeated Bellator MMA prospect Austin Vanderford improved his professional Mixed Martial Arts record to 10-0, with an outstanding performance against Vinicius de Jesus in a middleweight bout.

Vanderford dominated the fight on both the feet as well as the ground, leaving De Jesus in a pool of blood. The conclusion of the fight witnessed the judges awarding a clear-cut unanimous decision win to Vanderford for his dominant performance.

Moreover, yet another notable matchup that took place at Bellator 251 was a Welterweight bout between Derek Anderson and Killys Mota.

Anderson faced an uphill task against Mota’s excellent BJJ and overall grappling abilities, as he consistently troubled his opponent with submission attempts.

However, the fight-ending sequence came in round two when Anderson, who’d displayed a slight edge in the striking department over Mota, kicked the Brazilian fighter just as he was getting up from the mat.

The head kick immediately downed Mota. The referee and even Anderson seemed to initially believe that Mota had one knee down on the mat. This would’ve made Anderson’s kick illegal. However, the instant replay showed that both of Mota’s knees were off the mat when the kick connected.

Needless to say, the kick was deemed legal and Derek Anderson was subsequently awarded the victory by way of TKO.

Which fighter would you like to see Corey Anderson fight in his next Bellator MMA appearance? Sound off in the comments.