It’s easy to understand or explain Melvin Manhoef‘s appeal. He’s one of those fighters who elicit a gut reaction.
So it’s not surprising that everyone who knows him is getting psyched for Manhoef‘s return to American soil, when he debuts for Bellator this Friday against fellow crazy man Doug Marshall.
To put it succinctly, Manhoef is every hardcore fan’s dark-horse pick for the hardest hitter who has ever set foot in an MMA cage.
Do you think Mark Hunt has a hard chin? Manhoef knocked him out with one punch.
That was a while ago—2008, to be exact—but it’s a tidy summation of what makes him so exciting. But there’s definitely more. Of 28 professional MMA wins, 26 have come by knockout or technical knockout. That is—what’s the word?—insane.
That means 93 percent of his wins have ended at the ends of his fists, feet or knees.
Throughout his pro career, Manhoef has shuttled between MMA and kickboxing, amassing a 28-11-1-1 record in the former and a 37-12 mark (with 27 KO wins) in the latter. Combine the two, and he’s fought for just about every combat sports promotion under the sun. Unless my math is off, Bellator will be the 20th promotion to host him when he steps into the cage this Friday at Bellator 125.
The one tiny hole in his resume? The UFC.
One explanation for this is that, whenever Manhoef approaches the proverbial precipice, he loses. He fought twice in Strikeforce and lost both times, first to Robbie Lawler and then to Tim Kennedy. After ripping off three straight in 2012 and with a blockbuster against Polish kingpin Mamed Khalidov looming, Manhoef lost a very winnable fight to Brock Larson (and then lost to Khalidov two months later).
Does he get big-fight jitters? Eh, probably not. It’s probably because, well, he’s just not very good at most aspects of MMA. Minus the striking.
But what striking! Manhoef is all attack, all the time. He can knock you out with punches (left and right), kicks or knees. He throws combos that batter the body, the legs and the head, sometimes in one bunch.
If you don’t believe me, check out this excellent GIF collection from Cage Potato.
His showmanship on the mic matches his glitz in the cage. He’s always had a way with the crowd (again, see previously linked GIF) and a quote.
“You cannot describe the feeling you get when you knock somebody out. It’s a real powerful feeling. I feel very, very powerful,” he recently said in an interview with Sherdog. “I feel untouchable. Like…superior.”
Unfortunately for fans and Manhoef himself, that invincibility is a fleeting feeling. He has never adequately adapted the other aspects of his game to match his daisy-cutter stand-up.
His cardio is poor, and his grappling doesn’t really exist. His offense is dazzling, but his defense is, well, just more offense. He either knocks you out fairly early, or he loses. Which kind of adds to the excitement, in a way, though it’s not exactly a recipe for consistent success at MMA’s highest levels.
His Bellator debut will be his highest-level fight in some time. And it comes against an opponent in Marshall who also brings a berserker attitude, as evidenced by his 12 career knockout wins (and six career knockout losses). He may still have a grappling advantage over Manhoef, though. If Marshall gets rocked or develops what you might call a strategic notion, he’ll find a way to smother Manhoef and grind him out or submit him.
With any luck, though, it won’t happen, as that would deprive existing and potential fans of watching one of the most exciting fighters the sport has ever known. At 37 years old, Manhoef isn’t going to do this forever more.
Now he’s on American soil. He senses the moment. Can he rise to the occasion? Each Melvin Manhoef fight is precious. Here’s hoping fans—and Manhoef—take advantage.
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