“Everything was going the wrong way. But I got myself together. Now I’m only focusing on my BJJ, my grappling, my wrestling. So I should be a little better than before, but I’m still learning a lot,” Manhoef (Pictured) said during last week's Strikeforce conference call. “The guys from wrestling and BJJ, they've got a little advantage [on the ground]. But on the other hand, I've got an advantage in the stand-up game.”
Manhoef, 34, now meets former Strikeforce middleweight title challenger Tim Kennedy on the main card of Saturday's “Feijao vs. Henderson,” which airs live on Showtime and will be headlined by the titular light heavyweight title attraction between champion Rafael Cavalcante and Dan Henderson.
The Dutch-Surinamese fighter has spent virtually his entire career splitting time between MMA and kickboxing competition. According to Manhoef, this has made it difficult to grow as a mixed martial artist. Now the bi-athlete looks to focus exclusively on his MMA game, but that doesn't mean he's calling it quits for good as a kickboxer.
“Because I don't have stand-up fights, I don't have to train so much stand-up, anymore. Now it's a good combination of both [stand-up and ground work]. Before, when I was rolling on the ground for like a month or two months, my standup would go backwards. If I have to fight a K-1 fight, it's very hard,” said Manhoef. “If you're betting on two horses, you don't put all of your attention [in one area]. Your mind is not 100 percent there. So I think I’m going only for MMA fights. But I’m not saying that I’m retiring from kickboxing, because I like it also very much.”
Regarding his bout with Kennedy, Manhoef offered no predictions of a winner when asked about how the fight would go down. Instead, the middleweight simply suggested that fans would be wise to tune in, alluding to his now-infamous 2006 bout with Evangelista Santos in the defunct Cage Rage promotion.
“I don't know how our styles will match up, but he's a well-rounded fighter. I like when he pushes ahead and comes forward,” said Manhoef. “I cannot predict how I’m going to fight or what I’m going to do, but I think the fight will be so hard that everybody will talk about it. It will be just like the 'Cyborg' fight. It will be fight of night or year I think.”
Manhoef has been finished in each of his last two contests. First, he was on the receiving end of Sherdog.com's 2010 “Knockout of the Year” against Robbie Lawler last January, and then he was submitted by Tatsuya Mizuno at Dream 15 six months later. Manhoef openly admits that this bout against Kennedy falls into the “must win” category, and he's looking to redeem himself in the eyes of his fans.
“Every fight is a must win fight. For me, it's very important to win, because I want to prove that I’m still here, that I’m still strong, that I'm still Melvin. I’m looking forward to the fight. Even with the short notice, I’ve trained hard with no excuses, so I think everyone will enjoy this fight. It's going to be fireworks.”