Henri Hooft

The Dutch foundation

Henri Hooft is the Dutch kickboxing specialist who's the head striking coach at Sanford MMA in Florida. His coaching career began in the Netherlands, where Dutch kickboxing produced multiple K-1 world champions in the 1990s-2000s.

The transition to MMA coaching came in the late 2000s and accelerated through the 2010s. By 2020, Hooft had established Sanford MMA as the canonical Dutch-kickboxing-plus-American-wrestling fusion gym.

The athletes

• Cris Cyborg — UFC + Bellator + Strikeforce + Invicta women's featherweight champion
• Michael Chandler (camp affiliation) — Bellator + UFC lightweight contender
• Zhang Weili (training partnership) — UFC women's strawweight champion
• Various regional UFC and Bellator contracted fighters

The coaching philosophy

Hooft's coaching emphasizes Dutch K-1 striking:

• Lead-leg leg kicks: low-and-middle kicks attacking the opponent's lead leg.
• Switch kicks: stance-switch kicks integrated with hand combinations.
• Tight boxing: K-1-derived hand combinations with strong defense.
• Clinch knee work: Muay Thai-influenced clinch offense.
• Cardio depth: Dutch training-camp culture emphasizes championship-rounds capacity.

The Dutch K-1 tradition that Hooft brings to MMA produces strikers who are technically distinct from American boxing-base or Brazilian-Muay-Thai-base athletes. Sanford MMA fighters are typically recognizable by their leg-kick attack and the specific defensive patterns Hooft drills.

The Cyborg career

Hooft's most-decorated athlete relationship is with Cris Cyborg. Her cross-promotion championships (Strikeforce 2009-2011, Invicta 2013-2016, UFC 2017-2018, Bellator 2020-2023) span the Hooft coaching era and represent one of the most-credentialed striker-coach partnerships in women's MMA history.

The Zhang training partnership

The Zhang Weili training partnership (Zhang is primarily based in China but trains at Sanford for major-camp preparation) has expanded Hooft's coaching reach into Asia. Zhang's striking development between her first reign (2019-2021) and her current second reign (2022-present) reflects the Hooft coaching influence.

The legacy

Henri Hooft is the most-credentialed Dutch-kickboxing-into-MMA coach in modern combat sports. The combined Cyborg championship career and the Sanford MMA championship-level roster make his coaching results among the most-decorated striking-specialist results in MMA history.