Melvin Manhoef has inked a deal with Bellator.

A long-time MMA and kickboxing veteran, who competed from middleweight to heavyweight during his 19-year mixed martial arts career, Manhoef has reached a deal with the promotion following a 46-second destruction of Evangelista Santos in April.

"I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We want Bellator to be a destination for not only the top-tier fighters in the sport, but the first-choice destination for fans to see the most entertaining fights in the sport," Bellator president Scott Coker stated in a release.

Manhoef (28-11-1, 1 no-contest) enters the Bellator cage coming off a quick knockout win in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in his welterweight debut, but returns to 185 pounds to fight at Bellator. During his MMA career, the striker scored stoppage victories over the likes of Mark Hunt, Denis Kang, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuo Misaki.