Melvin Manhoef

Melvin Manhoef (born 11 May 1976) is a Dutch-Surinamese professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion. In mixed martial arts, he is currently competing in Bellator's Middleweight division and has also formerly competed for Strikeforce, DREAM, RINGS, It's Showtime, K-1, ONE FC, and KSW. As of 2 November 2015, he is ranked the #9 Middleweight in GLORY. 28 of his 30 wins have come via knockout, the highest percentage of any MMA fighter with at least 15 wins.

Manhoef was born in Paramaribo, Suriname. When he was three years old his family moved to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Manhoef played soccer during his youth, and was introduced to Muay Thai by his younger brother, Moreno.

At the age of 18, Manhoef had his first fight, which he won by decision. He made his comeback in September 2001, as part of Chakuriki Gym. In 2004, Manhoef entered the Cage Rage promotion in London. He became the British Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion by beating Fabio Piamonte at Cage Rage 13. He defended his title for almost two years, until entering the K-1's MMA affiliate promotion Hero's in 2006. He won his first fight at Hero's 4 against Shungo Oyama by technical knockout in first round.

Melvin has switched his main focus to MMA over the past couple of years. He lost to Dong-sik Yoon by submission armbar in K-1 Dynamite!! USA, he defeated Bernard Ackah at K-1 Hero's Middleweight Tournament Opening Round, and also got a TKO win against Fábio Silva, a Chute Boxe fighter, by TKO in K-1 Hero's Middleweight GP Final. At Dream 4 Melvin fought Kazushi Sakuraba. Manhoef and Sakuraba circled the ring for the first minute of the fight, before Manhoef dropped Sakuraba with a hard right head kick and finished him via TKO (hammerfists) at 90 seconds into Round 1. With the win, Melvin had advanced to the semifinal round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix. At Dream 6 Melvin fought Gegard Mousasi as the tournament dictated. Wary of Manhoef's standup, Mousasi quickly took the fight to the ground despite attempts to shrug him with a sprawl. Mousasi took Manhoef's back until scrambling into a triangle choke at 1:28 of the first round, surviving a powerful slam attempt from Manhoef while he had the submission secured. Mousasi went on to win the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix.

At Dynamite!! 2008 Melvin fought Mark Hunt as a late alternate at heavyweight, despite usually functioning at two weight classes below his opponent. Regardless of the size disadvantage, he knocked down the iron-jawed Samoan in 18 seconds and followed with punches as he was postured over Hunt, until the referee stopped the fight. It was the first time Hunt was finished by knockout in his MMA career. He fought former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho on 20 July 2009 at Dream 10. Despite early success on the feet with his striking offensive, Manhoef was taken down and submitted via armbar in the first round.

Manhoef signed a multi-year fight contract with Strikeforce. Manhoef made his debut for the organization against Robbie Lawler on 30 January 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami. Despite a strong start with heavy leg kicks and punches, he was knocked out at 3:33 in the first round.

Manhoef fought Tatsuya Mizuno at Dream 15 and lost by submission.

Manhoef returned to the United States in March 2011, facing Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Manhoef in 2012.

On 31 January 2012 it was announced that Manhoef had signed with ONE Fighting Championship and would be fighting Renato Sobral in the main event at ONE Fighting Championship 3. However, Sobral pulled out of the fight and Manhoef faced Yoshiyuki Nakanishi. The fight ended in a No Contest due to an accidental injury to Manhoef's leg in round 1. Manhoef scored a knockout victory on 6 October 2012 against Ryo Kawamura, followed by a quick knockout of Dennis Kang on 31 December 2012. Melvin is now on a three fight win streak in mma and has gone 4-0 on New Year's Eve.

Recently Manhoef was training with the famous Black House in the United States. He helped his teammate Lyoto Machida train for a fight with Dan Henderson. Manhoef openly hopes to sign with the UFC after visiting UFC 156 in Las Vegas and meeting with Dana White.

In 2013 Manhoef fought UFC veteran Brock Larson at ONE FC on 5 April. After controlling the standup and Larson literally running away from him, Manhoef was repeatedly taken down in the last two rounds and Larson won via unanimous decision. He lost to Mamed Khalidov at KSW23 on 8 June 2013.

He lost to Zabit Samedov by unanimous decision in the semi-finals of the 93 kg/205 lb kickboxing tournament at Legend 2: Invasion in Moscow, Russia on 9 November 2013.

Manhoef faced Evangelista Santos in a much-anticipated rematch for the Gringo Super Fight Welterweight title on 27 April. The fight was Melvin's first at 170 lbs. Manhoef won the bout via TKO, early in the first round.

It was announced during the Glory 15: Istanbul broadcast that Manhoef would be one of eight fighters competing in the Glory 17: Los Angeles - Last Man Standing middleweight tournament in Inglewood, California, United States on June 21, 2014. He lost to Filip Verlinden in the quarter-finals, suffering a head kick knockdown in round one before losing a majority decision.

On 21 July 2014, Bellator MMA announced that they signed Paul Daley along with Melvin Manhoef.

Manhoef made his Bellator debut against Doug Marshall, in a middleweight bout, at Bellator 125 on 19 September 2014. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Manhoef faced Glory veteran Joe Schilling on 15 November 2014 at Bellator 131. After a dominant first round that saw Manhoef drop Schilling twice, he lost the fight in the second round due to a knockout.

Manhoef next faced Alexander Shlemenko on 13 February 2015 at Bellator 133. He lost via knockout early in the second round. On March 17, 2015, Shlemenko was suspended indefinitely for failing a post fight drug test with elevated testosterone levels. The fight result was changed to a no contest.

Manhoef faced Rafael Carvalho on 20 May 2016 for the Bellator Middleweight Championship at Bellator 155. Manhoef lost a controversial split decision. Bellator announcer Jimmy Smith called it one of the worst decisions he had ever seen in the promotion; likewise 5 of 5 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Manhoef.

Kickboxing

• It's Showtime
  • It's Showtime 85 kg MAX champion (One time, first)

Mixed martial arts

• Cage Rage
  • Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion (One time)
  • Two Successful Title Defenses
• DREAM
  • DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinalist
• K-1 Hero's
  • 2006 Hero's Light Heavyweight Finalist
• Sherdog
  • 2012 All-Violence First Team
• Gringo Super Fight
  • 2014 GSF Welterweight Champion

• Breen, Jordan (2013-01-05). "Sherdog.com's 2012 All-Violence Team - First Team". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2015-12-23.