Melvin Manhoef Signs With Strikeforce
Holland based knockout specialist Melvin Manhoef has recently inked a multi-year agreement with Strikeforce.
Widely regarded as the sport’s most explosive knockout artist, Manhoef has finished twenty-two of his twenty-three professional victories in mixed martial arts by either knockout or TKO.
Melvin has gone 6-2 in his last eight MMA scraps, compiling stoppage victories over the likes of Fabio Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba and Mark Hunt, while dropping bouts to Gegard Mousasi and Paulo Filho.
With Benji Radach out of his anticipated bout with Robbie Lawler on December 19, Manhoef seems like a perfect candidate as a replacement in the bout.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
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Lawler! Lawler! Lawler!
Do we think Lawler would try for the ground game in this one? Manouef has more power, but zero ground game. H*ll… it’s comparable to Alexanders, Slices or Stanns…
It’s easy to simply knee jerk react and think that Manouef will win via Ko in round 1, but i can’t imagine Lawler wouldn’t at least have a gameplan if he quickly started getting beat down.
(sh*t, i went against the trendy picked, this message will get blocked..!
)
I would love to see him go against Lawler and soon!
If that fight does happen, I would not be surprised to see Lawler stand with him just long enough to surprise him with a takedown where we could see some vicious GnP.
If Lawler can’t get the takedown, this one is going to end violently and suddenly. Even if he does, it’s most likely going to end that way anyways.
Awesome signing SF, keep it up!
I think if Lawler wanted to take this one to the ground he could make himself look like a ground wizard vs Melvin. If Lawler decides to stand the whole fight we get to see if Melvin has the gas tank to take Lawler out, which if it makes it to the third round I predict Lawler by tko over a gassed Melvin( think of Baroni vs Sadollah except Lawler has the power to ko anybody anytime).
If Lawler is smart and i believe he is than he will take it to the groud and pound on Melvins face very easily by the 2nd
Why is that an awesome signing? “He has no ground game and is going to get his ass kicked by this other UFC reject who couldn’t hang, yaaayyyy, great signing!” Whatever. I can’t wait to see someone throw desperation toughman haymakers, then get taken to the ground by someone with no gnp, and the two make sweet, sweet love on the canvas for three rounds, awesome. Take a ju ju class or something, it is “mixed’ martial arts after all.
Lawler’s striking is more technical than it used to be, so don’t count him out on the feet..
But, he does have some strong wrestling..
I really don’t think he would use it, though..
It’s not ju ju, it’s Jiu-Jitsu first of all.
Second, this is a good signing because SF has a rather shallow talent pool and any fighter that draws a crowd is worth signing. It’s a good signing because Manhoef is a striker that does not throw “desperation toughman haymakers” but instead throws powerful, accurate strikes and always shows up to fight. It’s a great signing because Benji Radach had to pull out of the fight and this is a no-brainer fill in that will sell tickets, make money, and can further establish Lawler as one of the best in his division, in or out of the UFC, and could really help establish Manhhoef.
Good signing by Strikeforce. I was under the impression Manhoef was retired (or was contemplating it). He should be a good addition if he passes a state athletic commission drug test.
well put Dufresne.
another good point Kuch
wtf? youd be silly to say its a poor signing..this man collects scalps and has a track record of not taking it to the judges. i love watching him and you will too!
Strikeforce is starting to put together a good roster of fighters. They still lack the depth of the ufc in many of their divisions but the are still a solid organization. I dont think they will ever has the success the ufc is experiencing now but I believe if they stay smart they can make some good money. They shows still lack the quality of a ufc show they are still the second best organization around. I will always watch their product when it is on CBS or showtime but they dont have the talent and promotional tools to make me want to spend $40 to $50 on a PPV, even if Fedor is the headliner.
I just did something nasty in my pants. As much as I talk about Pat Barry, Anderson Silva, or Brandon Vera having some the best striking on this site, if I had to pick a number one, it would always be Melvin. This guy is the least boring fighter on the planet. I can’t wait to see him fight over here. I hope he fixes the holes in his cardio and ground game though. It’d be an absolute shame to see someone with such striking skill get held down for 15 minutes.
I wonder what edub has to say about this, he has been hyping this guy even more than I have.
Lawler is the logical fight here. I imagine they will announce it sometime this week or next. Fights like that are why I am liking Strikeforce more and more.
fuck me i cant wait!
Well again I have to go to work early(which I fu*in hate). Get crushed by an overflow of people for 6 hours, and all I wanna do is fall asleep.
But then I come home to this. And now Im gonna go watch Melvins fight with Cyborg.
A Lawler-Manhoef matchup would be the best for the fans. Two guys who outside of Anderson and Cung Le probably have the most dangerous stand up 185.
However as much as ive had a man crush on Melvin lately I think Lawler would be smart enough to slam Melvin and then smash him with some ungodly gnp. Either way I see no way possible for this to be a boring fight.
Strikeforce hits another one out of the park!
AWESOME SIGNING!
…and if they setup Lawler vs. Manhoef for December 19, I’m pretty sure I will shart myself.
hey dub still mad at you
Robbie Lawler has a long way to go before he can be considered one of the top fighters in the division. I say that because the Strikeforce execs just was wanna see Lawler get in there and basically have a boxing match. His stand up brawls with Scott Smith is definately exciting and fun to watch but it is barely even MMA. So Lawler vs Manhoef is probably a definite match up.
Manhoef is the West Coast Offense of MMA. Everything in the air and nothing on the ground. The losses to Mousasi and Filho (and also to Akiyama and Dong Sik Yoon, both by arm bar) tell the tale.
That has to be my favorite comparison for guys with no ground game. I’m stealing it just FYI.
It’s yours. I’ve got a million of ‘em.
Melvin is a much better fighter than Houston or Slice and has a better ground game than either of those dudes has shown so far. I would compare him more to an early Crocop. A guy who wants to be on his feet and offers little in the way of offense off his back. Victories over Hunt, Saku etc and 3 of his 6 losses to top MWs like Mousasi, Filho and Akiyama. I think people are under estimating his potential.
Moose im sorry man!!!