Other names The Tornado Nationality Surinamese Dutch Name Lloyd Dams Draws 3 | Division Super Heavyweight Height 1.86 m Losses 12 Weight 120 kg | |
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Team FC Van Dams (2006-present )Chakuriki Gym (1996-2006)Survivor (1992-1996)SWSU (1984-1992) | ||
Lloyd "The Tornado" van Dams (born March 5, 1972 in Para District) is a Dutch-Surinamese super heavyweight kickboxer. He is a former Dutch, European and World Muay Thai champion. In 2006 Lloyd opened his own gym, Fight Club Van Dams in Utrecht, Netherlands. He still continues to fight professionally but spends most of his time training young fighters at his gym.
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Biography and career
Lloyd Daniël van Dams was born in Suriname and moved to the Netherlands when he was 7 years old. He began training kickboxing when he was 12 at SWSU, a Surinamese gym in Utrecht. When he was good enough, his trainer decided him to take him to Chakuriki. Van Dams had his first professional fight at the age of 18.
When he was 20 he moved from Utrecht to Dordrecht and began training with Jan Vleesenbeek. This trainer was known for his hard training methods, which suited Van Dams very well. When Vleesenbeek decided to stop training, Van Dams moved to a gym called "Survivor" in Breda.
When facing problems in his personal life in 1996, Van Dams moved back to Utrecht. He went training with Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam, under Thom Harinck and developed himself as one of the top fighters of the gym.
In 1999 he made his K-1 debut at the K-1 Braves '99. After beating Matt Skelton in the semi-finals he lost to Xhavit Bajrami at the finals. After a few years, Van Dams made his comeback in 2005. First he fought at an 8-man tourney "Fight at the Border" in Belgium, where he lost on his comeback to Petar Majstorovic by unanimous decision. A week later he won a 4-man tournament in Romania. He defeated Pavel Majer and Alben Belinski.