My dad’s an MMA icon who KO’d nearly 30 opponents and a UFC icon – I’m making my own way at former Premier League club

MILLION MANHOEF is flying in the Championship with Stoke – but he could’ve had a completely different sports career.

The winger joined the Potters from Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem in January, inking a three-and-half-year-long deal at the Britannia.

Manhoef initially struggled with the physicality of the Championship but has been one of Stoke’s best players this season.

The 22-year-old has scored three goals and bagged a solitary assist in six appearances for Steven Schumacher’s side.

The Dutchman has proved to be an explosive force for The Potters, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given the athletic stock he comes from.

Manhoef is the son of kickboxing and mixed martial arts legend Melvin, who was one of the most ferocious strikers during his pomp.

Melvin competed in the now-defunct DREAM MMA promotion during the 2000s and was a terrifying force inside the ring.

And it was in DREAM where he became the first man to KO future UFC fan favourite Mark Hunt, whom he put to sleep in a mere 18 seconds.

It wasn’t long after the birth of Million that Melvin pushed him into the world of combat sports with kickboxing.

Million showed great promise in his junior Muay Thai fights but opted to pursue a football career instead.

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Recalling his decision to pick football over the fight game, Million said: “My father and mother separated when I was six or seven.

“But before that, of course, I was pushed into kickboxing.

“I was two and a half years old when I put on the kickboxing gloves.

“When I turned four I also started playing football and did both sports.

“I fought in competitions and became Dutch kickboxing champion.

“Kickboxing is certainly a great passion, but at a certain point I could no longer combine the two sports and I chose football.

“It’s a good thing that many people know that he is my father. But I want to do my own thing.

“He has had a great career, but to do that he had to make sacrifices with his family.

“And I grew up with my mother.

“I have experienced pressure at some point in my career because of my surname, but it’s not been too bad.

“When I first broke into the Vitesse Arnhem first team I heard about it a lot and everyone was always asking about him.

“I used to say, ‘What about my mother!'”

Million’s famous dad retired from combat sports in September 2022 after suffering a KO loss to Yoel Romero at Bellator 285 in Dublin.

That loss to Romero brought the curtain down on a 28-YEAR-LONG career in which he had over 100 professional fights in kickboxing and MMA.