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30/12/08 - Manhoef to fight Mark Hunt on New Year's Eve
Months after announcing his ‘retirement' from mixed martial arts competition, Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef is stepping in at short notice to fight Mark Hunt on New Year's Eve.
Hunt had been due to face Jerome LeBanner at K-1 Dynamite! On December 31st but the Frenchman was forced to pull out with flu.
Manhoef - who fights at middleweight - has agreed to take his place, despite the massive weight difference between him and the Samoan heavyweight.
Hunt is a former K-1 World Grand Prix kickboxing champion but made the switch to MMA after being unable to replicate his early success.
Fighting for Pride FC, he beat the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Mirko ‘CroCop' Filopovic, while losing to Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.
Hunt has a long history with Jerome LeBanner from the K-1 circuit as the pair have fought four times under kickboxing rules, with Hunt going 1-3 against the tough Frenchman.
Manhoef has also had some success on the K-1 kickboxing circuit, while his MMA career has been largely successful, although hampered at top-level by a lack of ground game.
This was highlighted most recently by his triangle loss to Gegard Mousasi in the finals of the DREAM middleweight grand prix.
That loss prompted him to announce his retirement from mixed martial arts competition, which now appears to have ended.
John Joe O'Regan
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