It has been fairly evident in some of the recent UFC events that the American fanbase in the sport has different sides. There are the fans that remain knowledgable and enjoy seeing the great ground wars, the ju-jitsu techniques, the judo, the submissions. There are also many fans who just want to see two guys go toe-to-toe and see someone get their block knocked off. In some areas of the country, it is much more obvious which side of the fanbase exists there. If you are that guy who sits at a bar and wants to see someone get straight slobberknocked into next week, I suggest a strong campaign contribution to the Melvin Manhoef fund.
Why the interest?
Before I go into detail as to why I'm a fan of this Dutch kickboxer's brutal style, let me give you a little background on the interest in Melvin Manhoef. Imagine a dutch kickboxer with wicked striking ability who has the power of a gorilla. That's Melvin. He's unbelievably powerful, has great striking ability, awesome leg power, and produces time and time again highlight reel knockouts. He may not be the best, he may not be the most skilled on the ground, but he absolutely crushes standup competition. Why am I making a case for him? Because who doesn't love explosive knockouts? The UFC sure as hell does. This guy would sell eventually if you matched him up with standup competition and that's the business model that K-1 is using him for. I believe a smaller U.S. organization could definitely capitalize on him.
With that said, let me refer you to a fight that happened at Cage Rage 15. He took on Chute Box fighter Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos in one of the most unbelievable standup wars I've seen in quite some time. You've all seen Rocky II. Creed and Rocky knock each other down at the end of the battle after being exhausted to the brink of falling down. That was Manhoef vs. Santos. Both guys decimated each other to the point of exhaustion. Somehow, Manhoef even throws in a head kick that lands and Santos remains standing. Eventually, Manhoef mustered enough power to put Santos to the floor and won. The fight stands out in my mind because of the heart that both guys had toward the end, regardless of their poor cardio.
That was the start of my interest in Manhoef's career. He went on to knockout Ian Freeman in :17 seconds, beatdown Shungo Oyama, and straight crush Bernard Ackah and one-two Fabio Silva into Candy Land. Although he has significant problems with good submission fighters, he's purely been made to brawl. An exciting fighter to watch and always good for a crushing knockout. Without further adeu, some video links for your viewing pleasure:
Melvin Manhoef vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos @ Cage Rage -- Awesome standup war, a crowd pleaser
Melvin Manhoef vs. Ruslan Karaev @ K-1 Amsterdam -- One of Manhoef's most brutal knockouts, Karaev lays unconscious on the mat for quite some time
Melvin Manhoef vs. Tomihira @ K-1 -- Good demonstration of combinations setting up striking
Melvin Manhoef vs. Ian Freeman @ Cage Rage -- Taking on the British veteran, wins in quick fashion
Melvin Manhoef vs. Bernard Ackah @ K-1 HERO's -- Also known as the guy who knocked out Johnnie Morton, Ackah gets dominated
Can this guy even contend?
To be perfectly honest, he wouldn't be a guy who could contend unless he made an effort to try to improve his ground game. What he can provide is tough standup competition and he can basically cause people to fear trading with him at all. Manhoef has obviously weaknesses. His most obvious is his takedown defense and ground game, which is fairly non-existent. There are some big name fights he has lost. Dong Sik Yoon dominated him as well as did Akiyama, two solid judokas. There is even a fight where a old fat Bob Schrieber defeated Manhoef after being absolutely pummeled by him. Problem was, Schrieber was much bigger and seemed to outweigh Manhoef significantly. He has weaknesses, and there isn't an assumption here that Manhoef could dominate a division
He is, however, a guy who can entertain a crowd. Imagine the Santos vs. Manhoef battle on a UFC Fight Night card in the States for free. Imagine if it was on a card like that in the past. It would have been a huge hit. The fight literally plays out like Rocky, entertains the crowd to exhaustion. Two gladiators duking it out to the end, a dream fight for any promotion. So why have I outlined his career in this post? To expose him to the casual fans out there that may not know him.
Possible landing zones
Manhoef is currently fighting for K-1 HERO's and also fights in the regular K-1 events from time to time. His height is a problem in the regular kickboxing matches at times, but he can be a force in the middleweight to light heavyweight divisions in any U.S. organization. Some of the names that myself and Joe batted around as possible U.S. matchups were interesting. The one name that was suggested was Robbie Lawler. Both of their styles match up pretty well. They both have similar reach and knockout power. The x-factor is Melvin's kicking power and combinations. He seems to be very unique in that he never strays from a combination strategy. It'd be a hell of a fight, at least on paper.
Let's face it, Manhoef isn't going to defeat the big name grapplers in the UFC or other U.S. organizations, but he can present problems if he can get the first punch landed. Even in divisions like the UFC's Light Heavyweight division that has a lot of standup fighters in the low to mid tier, he could make an impact. I hope we see this guy in a major U.S. organization soon, but their are sources on the horizon that suggest a return of K-1 Dynamite to the States. He has been scheduled to fight on the New Year's Eve K-1 Premium Dynamite card, and the possible opponents lined up look to be Kang, Newton, Galesic, and Minowa. This fight has the potential to be a highlight reel knockout. What's not to like, Manhoef even has a tattoo (pictured to the right) that notches his knockouts! Come on, tacky as hell, but who cares... ride the bandwagon to a brutal finish.
Luke Thomas also has a comment regarding Manhoef over at BloodyElbow.com as well.