Melvin Manhoef reportedly foiled a burglary of his property when he detained three men.- The apparent burglars had cased the
MMA fighter's property before.
A former MMA fighter reportedly chased away three would-be burglars, smashed their apparent getaway vehicle with his bare hands, and detained them before police arrived at the scene.
That's according to reports in combat
The three men had apparently cased Manhoef's property in Landsmeer, North Holland, before, and as MMA Junkie reports, they had even attempted to enter his home while he was away in Paris.
They reportedly returned Monday, and this time Manhoef was nearby, able to intervene and chase them off of the road in his own vehicle. Neighbors apparently helped detain the burglars.
This photo seemingly shows Manhoef with the burglars:
—Galatasaray Hollanda (@GS_Hollanda) March 28, 2022
When he gave a statement to police later, Monhoef claimed he still had shards of glass in his hand from when he punched through the getaway car's window, MMA Fighting said.
"I [told police] if it happened again, I'm going to do it again, because it's my family," Manhoef said.
Elaborating later, he told the Vox Media website: "Because if they're going to burgle in and my wife is there, they tie my wife or my kid up, I couldn't forgive myself.
"My instinct was, you cannot come around my family. This is like, rule No. 1. Don't touch my family. If you do that, yeah, you're going to pay for it."
On how he detained them, Manhoef said it began when neighbors called to say the burglars were back, and so he drove home, saw they weren't there, but waited in his car to see if they returned.
When they did return, he watched them. They "took a slight turn and went away," he said.
"I chased them, and then I crashed into them on the back side, and I couldn't stop them because they were still going fast. And then I go to the side, and I hit them from the side.
"So they go into the, how do you call it, the side of the road, and the car was, like, turning and slipping. And we crashed."
Manhoef continued: "So I crashed, I crashed the whole car, and then the car stopped in the middle of the road, like horizontal, in the middle of the road."
Manhoef claimed he called over to them. He then ordered them to open the window, which he said he then smashed.
"I pulled the guy out, opened the door, and put the guy on the ground. I was yelling, I was going like crazy. Everybody put their hands and knees on the ground.
"Some people were helping, they came out of their houses, and they called 911. In a few minutes, they were there."
It is unclear if Manhoef will face charges for taking the law into his own hands. "If I have to face charges, it is what it is," he said.
"I did something wrong because I hit the car, but I hit it with a purpose because I know there were in my house."
Manhoef has a pro MMA record of 32 wins (29 knockouts and three decisions) against 15 losses.
He last fought in 2020, when he lost by knockout to Corey Anderson — a result that bucked back-to-back wins.