The Strikeforce middleweight division became a lot more interesting today when the promotion announced the signing of “Marvellous” Melvin Manhoef, who is arguably the most feared striker in all of mixed martial arts and advanced to the semi-finals of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix last year with a pair of vicious knockouts.
While his submission defence remains as a key weakness, Manhoef has shown that he has the ability to knock any opponent out and he will pose a very big threat to everyone in the Strikeforce 185-pound division.
Manhoef (23-6-1) has won a remarkable 22 fights by a form of knockout, with just one of his wins going the distance.
He is most famous for his 2006 all-out war with Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and for recent stoppages of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba and the iron-jawed Mark Hunt in DREAM.
Manhoef made it to the semi-finals of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix in 2008, but succumbed to a triangle choke from eventual champion Gegard Mousasi.
Most recently, Manhoef battered former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho for over two full minutes at Dream.10, but was forced to submit to a Filho armbar soon after. The setback highlighted Manhoef’s continued struggles with submission defence.
Known for his ultra-aggressive style and vicious punching power – which was evident in his 18-second knockout of Hunt, who outweighed Manhoef by nearly 100 pounds and had never been knocked out in MMA before – Manhoef is quite possibly the most dangerous fighter in mixed martial arts.
There are rumours that Manhoef may face final EliteXC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: “Evolution” on December 19th, but that is unlikely as Manhoef is expected to be a part of the K-1 “Dynamite!!” card on New Year’s Eve in Japan.
Whomever he faces, Manhoef will be looking to make a big statement when he debuts for Strikeforce.