Bellator Middleweight Champion Rafael Carvalho has his sights set on respect and bigger fights, and it begins with a victory over Melvin Manhoef in Italy.

Rafael Carvalho faces Melvin Manhoef on April 8 in a rematch of their first contest nearly a year ago. At a time when Bellator has never been more exciting, Cage Pages spoke to their middleweight champion about what he expects in the fight and out of his organization.

When speaking to Carvalho, one of the first topics broached was the fact that their middleweight division has plenty of potentially exciting contenders in the form of Chael Sonnen, Alexander Shlemenko, and potentially Rory MacDonald. When asked if there was any added pressure with high-profile bouts on the horizon, Carvalho said simply:

There is no pressure for me, as a champion I have to beat the best and that is what I am doing and I will continue to do so.

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This is also the first time that Carvalho has faced the same opponent in an immediate rematch. When asked about the challenges of having prepared for one individual for such a long amount of time and the changes since the first fight, Carvalho said:

I’m on a new team, with a new coach now. I’m part of the Evolution Thai. The head coach is Dida Diafat, an ex-K-1 world max champion and I have Wanderlei Silva as [a training] partner, I’ll be much better for this fight… I’m calm, the first fight was a f***ing fight, so I think it’s good we came back to fix it.

The first fight was very controversial and many scored the fight for Manhoef. When asked about the criticism, Carvalho was very vocal, stating:

First Melvin is much better known than me, Bellator does not promote me as champion. I am never called to watch the big Bellator cards. When I beat the Bellator darling Brandon Halsey they were surprised. This is the fault of Bellator in not promoting the champion. Melvin never won that fight, he ran the whole time. I [was hurt in] the second round, he knew that and did nothing to finish the fight. So I ask these f***ing experts: How can Melvin have won if he ran the whole time against a wounded fighter? Instead, I kept going up to him. If I had not been hurt in the second round I would have finished him quickly.

Bellator, of course, has recently gone all in for their pay-per-view event in New York this summer. When asked about participating on the card if he emerges healthy from his next fight, Carvalho stated:

I would love to be there. I think Alexander Shlemenko wants it too. So we can do it there.

Before our interview concluded, I asked Carvalho how he sees the rematch with Manhoef going:

I’ll finish him before the fifth-round, you can bet on that.

Rafael Carvalho will face Melvin Manhoef in the rematch on April 8 in the main event of Bellator 176. The main card begins at 3 p.m. EST