Bespectacled, at about 5'7", 150 pounds, with graying hair and an easygoing, warm personality, you would never know by looking at him that this is the mentor to young warriors, teaching them how to brutally inflict violent damage on their opponents. The man with the appearance and demeanor of a college professor is actually the Godfather of MMA striking coaches in South Florida. There are some that may be as good, and many with bigger names, but Manolo Lopez is fast becoming one of the more accomplished and iconic figures in the local fighting culture, as well making himself well known in the UFC, Bellator and beyond.
He grew up in communist Cuba and at a young age, he learned Karate, becoming both a 4th degree black belt and 1984 Pan American Games gold medal winner. He then migrated to Tae Kwon Do and became a Black Belt and Cuban National Team member. That somehow morphed into Muay Thai Kickboxing. He and a small group of martial artist friends began training and putting on fights in a tightly governed dictatorship where the sport and practice of Kickboxing was illegal. They held clandestine practices in parks, abandoned buildings, backyards, and any place else that would suffice, all the while risking arrest and harassment from the Cuban government for their simple passion of the sport they loved.
20+ years later and he is now the head coach of American Top Team in Kendall Florida and has coached and cornered 2 World Muay Thai Champions and a number of UFC and Bellator fighters. Along the way, he has become a force to be reckoned with by any opposing camp when they peer through the chain link across the cage and see the smiling professor of pain administering his pre-fight lecture to another well-prepared student turned warrior.
To train with him is an old school sensory overload as he pushes each fighter to their physical limits while coaxing their mind to simultaneously think and react. The Sensei is flowing with technical energy and espousing his wisdom with an enthusiasm normally reserved for children. Every session, every fighter, and every fight is infused with his fervor. About to travel to Toronto for UFC 165, I caught up with him after a sparring class to talk about how he's adapted to the times and stayed relevant, as well as how he's preparing Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres for this Saturdays UFC 165 fight against Roland Delorme.
In this ongoing series of interviews, I take a look at what it takes to make it to the big time in fighting. It's a behind-the-scenes look at the training, the toil, and the passion. It's the challenge of setbacks and the moments of joy. It's why fighters fight and what makes them keep going. It's the road less traveled. Check it out!
MANOLO LOPEZ:
SWD: Your coaching career started in Kickboxing and Muay Thai, and now you adapted those arts, along with Karate and Tae Kwon Do, to create a hybrid striking style. How have you changed those striking styles to adapt to MMA?
ML: With time. It's taken a long time and a lot of observation. I saw, for example, the first fighters in MMA were much different than the ones that fight today. So I try and adopt from each style what will work best in MMA.
SWD: What's the difference? What can't you do in MMA that you could in Musy Thai, for example, and vice versa?
ML: You use the best of what each art has. Karate has a lot of explosive moves, so we use that. Tae Kwon Do has a lot of focus on footwork and leg kicks. Kickboxing has better technique on exchanges. In Muay Thai, we use the techniques of the knee and the elbows. And then we incorporate that, of course, with good wrestling and Jiu Jitsu.
SWD: Example of a technique you adjusted?
ML: The clinch. You can't clinch as much in MMA as you do in Muay Thai because if you have a wrestler, they're going to use that to take you down. So the clinch is vital, but you have to know when to use it and to be able to get in and get out. Then there's working angles to gain an advantage and we teach a lot from both boxing and karate for those types of things.
SWD: You're the head coach of American Top Team, Kendal, but you're background is all striking. Last week, your fighters won 3 of 4 fights on the local Championship Fighting Alliance card all by submission. How do you explain that?
ML: My guys are well-rounded, and not everyone understands that. So they may try and take my guys down not knowing how much we work on everything and how well-rounded they are. One of the guys that won that night, Jose Caceres (younger brother of UFC fighter, Alex Caceres), is our Jiu Jitsu instructor, so for him to win by rear naked choke is not surprising.
SWD: So since you're primarily a striking coach, how do you handle being in the corner to get things to the ground or when they go there?
ML: Well, we have someone in the corner that's there to coach on wrestling and Jiu jitsu at that moment they take over and that's their focus. So I take a back seat if I need to. But I also see a lot of what may be coming or what we can do if we stay a step ahead, and when I see that, I'm still very vocal. That happened to me with Alex Caceres when he won Submission of the Night. I know he has a good triangle and I knew he could get it.
SWD: You currently coach over a dozen pro fighters. Who are the most notable ones and the up and comers?
ML: In addition to Alex right now, I'm working with UFC fighters Yoel Romero and Mike Rio. Also, former Bellator fighter Alexis Villa, who's on a two-fight win streak and who I believe will be in the UFC soon. Also , Yoislandy Izquierdo had two fights in the UFC and he's improved enough that I feel he's on his way back there. Jose Caceres is improving rapidly too.
SWD: I saw you after a loss a few years ago and you took it pretty hard; almost as if you had lost. Has that changed or do you still react the same way after a loss.
ML: It's normal that it affects you emotionally, but I use it now to improve that fighter for next time. I use it as fuel.
SWD: And when your fighter wins?
ML: I'm so happy for them, it's a lot of joy. But I'm always looking at what they can do or have done better.
SWD: Let's talk about Alex Caceres and his upcoming fight at UC 165. What's the game plan and what have you been focused on in camp?
ML: Defense. Defense is going to be the focus, and try and keep the find standing. But if the fight goes to the ground, Alex is very skilled there.
SWD: I know for awhile you quit coaching. You had a regular career, then you came back to this. You may never get rich doing this, so why do you do what you do?
ML: Oh, I don't know. This is my life. It's passion. I've never had a bad day at work when I'm doing this.
SWD: At 53 years old, do you still spar with your fighters.
Manolo: Yes.
SWD: Can any of them beat you yet?
ML: (Laughing) Yes. There are some that can.
SWD: What does it take to be a fighter?
ML: It's sometimes they come with skill, but when they're in the cage, they aren't the same. Some don't have the skill, but when you see them fight, they just have it (pointing to his chest). That's what you need. You have to have heart more than anything.
SWD: Do you have to be a little crazy?
ML: (Without hesitation) Yes!
SWD: Thanks for taking time out of your schedule to talk to us and share your wisdom. Much continued success to you and your fighters.
ML: Thanks Stuart.