Melvin against Shungo Ohyama. Photo: Susumo Nagao
Set to face Robbie Lawler at the next Strikeforce event, on January 30 in Miami, Melvin Manhoef is in the United States, where he is preparing for the impending challenge.
The Dutchman is one of the most feared strikers in MMA. Of the 24 wins on his record, 23 have come by way of knockout. His ground game, however, is one of his weak points. Besides never having won by submission, four of his six losses have come in this way, the last against Paulo Filho. In preparing for his next challenge, Manhoef is working at a place where headway is more than likely, at the American Top Team, where he can count on teachers of the caliber of Ricardo Liborio.
One who had the chance to see Melvin in action at the ATT is Amaury Bitetti. “I was in the United States dealing with some things for the upcoming Bitetti Combat show and I watched Melvin training. I was impressed, the guy’s on fire and should make a name for himself at Strikeforce,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.
The upcoming Strikeforce show features two tite challenges, Nick Diaz vs Marius Zaromskis and Cris Cyborg vs Marloes Coenen.
Check out the likely card:
Strikeforce
Miami, Florida
January 30, 2010
Nick Diaz vs Marius Zaromskis
Cristiane “Cyborg” dos Santos vs Marloes Coenen
Robbie Lawler vs Melvin Manhoef
Bobby Lashley vs TBA
Greg Nagy vs Herschel Walker
Preliminaries
Jay Hieron vs Joe Riggs
Pablo Alfonso vs Marcos da Matta
Sabah Homasi vs John Kelly
David Gomez vs Craig Oxley
