Lloyd van Dams

Lloyd Daniël van Dams (5 March 1972 – 29 December 2021), also known as The Tornado, was a Surinamese-born Dutch heavyweight kickboxer. He was a Dutch, European, and World Muay Thai champion. Known for his durability, Van Dams was never knocked out in 84 professional fights (though he was defeated once via TKO from exhaustion). He held notable wins over Remy Bonjasky, Brian Douwes, Alexander Ustinov, Bjorn Bregy, and Brecht Wallis. Van Dams also competed in mixed martial arts.

Van Dams was born in Suriname on 5 March 1972, and moved to the Netherlands when he was seven years old. He began training kickboxing when he was 12 at SWSU, a Surinamese-Dutch gym in Utrecht. When he was good enough, his trainer decided 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 at 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.

In 2006, Van Dams opened his own gym, Fight Club Van Dams in Utrecht, Netherlands. He died from heart disease on 29 December 2021, at the age of 49.

• 2010 Amsterdam Fight Club 4 man tournament champion
• 2004 King Of The Ring World GP tournament champion
• 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix in Fukuoka Repechage A Runner Up
• 2000 WFCA World champion
• 1999 WMTA World champion
• 1998 EMTA European champion
• 1998 KO-Power Tournament champion
• 1997 Battle of the Best tournament champion
• 1996 NKBB Dutch champion