Melvin Manhoef
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Name | Melvin Manhoef |
| Nickname | Marvelous, No Mercy | |
| Association | Mike's Gym | |
| Weight Class | Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.) | |
| Height | 5' 8" (173cm) | |
| Style | Muay Thai | |
| Birth Date | May 11, 1976 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
| Country | Holland | |
| Melvin Manhoef Pictures | Official Website |
Melvin "No Mercy" Manhoef is a professional Dutch-Surinamese Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist, trained by Mike Passenier and fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is the last Cage Rage Light Heavyweight World champion known for his aggressive fighting style and knockout power.
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 27 - 9 - 1 (Win – Loss – Draw) (1 NC) |
| Wins | 25 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 2 Decisions |
| Losses | 3 (T)KOs 6 Submissions 0 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Denis Kang | KO (Knee to the Body) | DREAM.18: Special NYE 2012 | 12/31/2012 | 1 | 0:50 | |
| Win | Ryo Kawamura | KO (Punch) | One FC 6: Rise of Kings | 10/6/2012 | 1 | 4:40 | |
| Win | Jae Young Kim | Decision (Split) | Road FC 9: Beatdown | 9/15/2012 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| No Contest | Yoshiyuki Nakanishi | NC (Both Fighters Cut by Clash of Legs) | One FC 3: War of the Lions | 3/31/2011 | 1 | 2:08 | |
| Loss | Tim Kennedy | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson | 3/05/2011 | 1 | 3:41 | |
| Loss | Tatsuya Mizuno | Submission (Kimura) | DREAM 15 | 7/10/2010 | 1 | 7:38 | DREAM Four-man Light Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round |
| Loss | Robbie Lawler | KO (Punches) | Strikeforce: Miami | 1/30/2010 | 1 | 3:33 | |
| Win | Kazuo Misaki | TKO (Punches) | FieLDS Dynamite!! 2009 | 12/31/2009 | 1 | 1:49 | |
| Loss | Paulo Filho | Submission (Armbar) | DREAM 10: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final | 7/20/2009 | 1 | 2:36 | |
| Win | Mark Hunt | KO (Punches) | K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008 | 12/31/2008 | 1 | 0:18 | |
| Loss | Gegard Mousasi | Submission (Triangle Choke) | DREAM 6: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final | 9/23/2008 | 1 | 1:28 | Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix 2008 Semi-Final |
| Win | Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (Punches) | DREAM 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Quarterfinals | 6/15/2008 | 1 | N/A | Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix 2008 Quarterfinals |
| Win | Dae Won Kim | TKO (Knees and Punches) | DREAM 3: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Quarterfinals | 5/11/2008 | 1 | 4:08 | Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix 2008 Opening Round |
| Win | Yosuke Nishijima | TKO (Punches) | K-1: Premium 2007 Dynamite!! | 12/31/2007 | 1 | 1:49 | |
| Win | Fabio Silva | TKO (Punches) | K-1 HERO's: Tournament Final | 9/17/2007 | 1 | 1:00 | |
| Win | Bernard Ackah | KO (Punches) | K-1 HERO's: Middleweight Tournament Opening Round | 7/16/2007 | 1 | 2:13 | |
| Loss | Dong Sik Yoon | Submission (Armbar) | K-1 HERO's: Dynamite!! USA | 6/02/2007 | 2 | 1:17 | |
| Win | Kazuo Takahashi | TKO (Punches) | K-1: Hero's 8 | 3/12/2007 | 1 | 2:36 | |
| Loss | Yoshihiro Akiyama | Submission (Armbar) | K-1: Hero's 7 | 10/09/2006 | 1 | 1:58 | K-1 Hero's Light Heavyweight Grand Prix 2006 Finals |
| Win | Shungo Oyama | TKO (Strikes) | K-1: Hero's 7 | 10/09/2006 | 1 | 1:04 | |
| Win | Crosley Gracie | TKO (Punches) | K-1: Hero's 6 | 8/05/2006 | 1 | 9:12 | |
| Win | Ian Freeman | KO (Punches) | CR 17: Ultimate Challenge | 7/01/2006 | 1 | 0:17 | Defended Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | Shungo Oyama | TKO (Cut) | K-1: Hero's 4 | 3/15/2006 | 1 | 2:51 | |
| Win | Evangelista Santos | KO (Punches) | CR 15: Adrenalin Rush | 2/04/2006 | 2 | 3:51 | Defended Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | Fabio Piamonte | KO (Punches) | CR 13: No Fear | 9/10/2005 | 1 | 0:51 | Won Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | Paul Cahoon | TKO | CFC 4: Cage Carnage | 7/03/2005 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Bob Schrijber | Decision | It's Showtime: Amsterdam Arena | 6/12/2005 | N/A | N/A | |
| Win | Ladislav Zak | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | QFN: Queens Fight Night | 4/30/2005 | 1 | 0:37 | |
| Win | Matthias Riccio | TKO (Punches) | CR 10: Deliverance | 2/26/2005 | 1 | 3:01 | |
| Loss | Rodney Glunder | KO | It's Showtime: Amsterdam Arena | 5/20/2004 | N/A | N/A | |
| Win | Slavomir Molnar | KO | HOH: Heaven or Hell | 4/08/2004 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Alexandr Garkushenko | KO | M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 5 | 4/06/2003 | 1 | 6:57 | |
| Loss | Bob Schrijber | TKO (Punches) | 2H2H 6: Simply the Best 6 | 3/16/2003 | 1 | 4:01 | |
| Win | Mike Ilmen | KO | It's Showtime: As Usual | 9/29/2002 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Paul Cahoon | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | Rings Holland: Saved by the Bell | 6/02/2002 | 2 | 2:07 | |
| Win | Husein Cift | KO | Hoogwoud Fight Gala: Free Fight | 12/15/2001 | 1 | N/A | |
| Draw | Rodney Glunder | Draw | Rings Holland: The Kings of the Magic Ring | 6/20/1999 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Jordy Jonkers | TKO (Palm Strikes) | BOA: Battle of Amstelveen | 12/02/1995 | 2 | 3:37 | |
Mixed MArtial Arts Career
Manhoef was born in Paramaribo, Suriname. When he was three years old his family moved to Rotterdam. Manhoef was involved in soccer during his youth, and was introduced to Muay Thai by his younger brother, Moreno. He soon joined Choku Gym in Zaandam and started training.[citation needed] At 18, he had his first fight, which he won by decision. He made his comeback in September 2001, as part of Chakuriki Gym, in Amsterdam. He made his K-1 debut against Remy Bonjasky in K-1 Holland GP 2002 in Arnhem, Netherlands. Melvin lost the fight by unanimous decision.
In 2004, Manhoef entered the Cage Rage promotion in London. After beating Fabio Piamonte he became the World champion. He successfully defended his title for almost two years, until re-entering the K-1 fighting circuit's, MMA affiliate HERO'S in 2006. He won his first fight at Hero's 4 against Shungo Oyama by technical knockout in first round.
His only kickboxing bout in 2007 was against Ruslan Karaev. Manhoef beat Karaev via left hook knockout.
Melvin fought two K-1 fights in 2008, first was against Remy Bonjasky where he lost via 3rd round head kick. His second was against Paul Slowinski as a reserve fight at the GP finals where he won by 1st round knockout again by left hook.
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 9, and also recently got a TKO win against Fabio 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 due to punches in his MMA career.
On February 4, 2009, he injured his ankle during training, canceling his fight with Rustemi Kreshnik.
Manhoef was supposed to face Chalid Arrab on March 28, 2009 as part of K-1's one night heavyweight title tournament, but Die Faust had visa problems and caught influenza so he fought Keijiro Maeda instead. Despite being the clear favourite in the fight, he was unexpectedly knocked out in the first round.
He fought former WEC Middleweight champion Paulo Filho on July 20, 2009 at DREAM 10: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round. Despite early success on the feet with his striking offensive, Manhoef was taken down and submitted via armbar in the first round.
It was learned early December 2009 that Manhoef had signed a multi-fight contract with Strikeforce, but before debuting with the promotion, Manhoef faced off against Kazuo Misaki on December 31, 2009 at FieLDS Dynamite!! 2009. After a brief feeling-out process in the first round, Manhoef unleashed his trademark power punches. A left hand sent Misaki crashing to the ground, but as his butt hit the floor, he immediately tried to grab Manhoef's leg and regain composure. It was too late, and the referee had already called an end to the action at 1:49 of the first round.
Manhoef admitted after the bout with Misaki that he barely trained his ground-game for the fight. He also later delved more into the issue, explaining that his gym, Mike's Gym, burnt down in December of 2009, making preparation for the fight against Misaki very limited, as he was forced to train at numerous gyms every day.
- “My preparation for the fight against Misaki was already not optimal at all," Manhoef said. "I had to train at several gyms every day. The traveling took up a lot of my time so training wasn’t great.”
Manhoef made his Strikeforce debut on January 30, 2010 against former EliteXC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler on the Strikeforce: Miami card. It was also learned that Manhoef would be training at American Top Team for the bout, focusing a lot of attention on improving his ground-game. With both fighters known for their knockout ability, the bout was expected to be a slugfest. Instead of attacking a breakneck speeds, as was expected, Manhoef implemented an impressive game-plan throughout the majority of the first round, delivering powerful kicks to the legs that had Lawler limping and a bit wobbly. As Manhoef gained comfort in the cage – and as the finish appeared certain – he began to drop his hands. Lawler made him pay, uncorking a powerful right hand that dropped Manhoef. Another left hand and Lawler had his opponent unconscious on the mat, defeating Manhoef by KO (Punches) in the first round.
DREAM Light Heavyweight Tournament
After losing to Robbie Lawler, Manhoef was announced as a participant in DREAM's Four-man Light Heavyweight Tournament. His first fight took place on July 10, 2010 at DREAM 15 against Japan's Tatsuya Mizuno. Manhoef opened in typical fashion, and his striking attack appeared potent in the early going. But after Manhoef escaped a threat on the floor, it was Mizuno who rocked his opponent on the feet. With Manhoef appearing dazed, Mizuno followed to the floor and locked in a Kimura to force the tap.
Titles
- 2009 Current It's Showtime 85 KG MAX World champion.
- 2008 Dream Middleweight Grand Prix Semi Finalist.
- 2006 Hero's Light Heavyweight finalist.
- 2004 Cage Rage Light Heavyweight World champion.
