Hunt: UFC dream is gone
The embers of the Kiwi’s UFC career are almost extinguished but his desire to keep fighting continues to burn
Mark Hunt is ready to let go. After suffering back-to-back losses in his two most recent bouts, the Kiwi MMA star knows his professional future does not lie with the UFC.
“To be honest, it’s not even on my radar,” Hunt told the Herald on Sunday of re-signing with the promotion after his current contract ends.
Hunt was submitted in the first round of his bout against Russian
Aleksei Oleinik two weeks ago, which followed a unanimous decision loss to Curtis Blaydes in February.
With one bout left on his contract, Hunt — who holds a 13-13-1 professional record, with one ‘no contest’ — says the recent losses have given him some perspective.
“I lost the last fight.
Who would want to give me another contract with the UFC? I certainly won’t expect one.”
Hunt debuted with the
UFC in 2010, three years after the promotion’s then-parent company Zuffa’s absorbing of Japan’s Pride Fighting Championship into the UFC.
Acquired as part of the Pride deal, the UFC offered to buy out Hunt’s contract for $450,000.
“When we bought Pride, he came as part of the Pride deal,” UFC boss Dana White said at a press conference in 2011. “It was back and forth and basically I was just like . . . we’ll just pay you off.”
Hunt turned down the offer. Starting his MMA career with a 5-6 record in Pride and its successor promotion, Dream, after building an impressive 30-13 record in kickboxing, he wanted to fight for his money.
“At the end of the day, I’m one of the greatest fighters on the planet,” he says.
In September 2010, Hunt got inside the UFC octagon for the first time — squaring off at UFC 119 against American Sean McCorkle. The fight lasted a little over a minute. Hunt was caught in an armbar and forced to submit. Unable to display his ability at first, Hunt soon unleashed his power and claimed impressive wins in his next four fights — three by way of knockout.
He quickly became known as the King of the Walk Off — when he knew he had landed a shot to end the fight, he made sure everyone else did, too, by heading back to his corner before the referee ended the bout.
By 2014, Hunt was fighting for the interim heavyweight title. He couldn’t claim it, losing to Brazilian Fabricio Werdum in the second round, but the Australian-based Kiwi more than made his mark on the UFC, its fans and young MMA athletes in Australia and New Zealand. No 15-ranked UFC light heavyweight Tyson Pedro credits Hunt as one of the big inspirations in his career.
“I’ve been watching him since I was a kid,” the 27-year-old said. “You look up to him as someone who’s probably been in the game longer than anyone else.”
Hunt signed a six-fight deal in 2014 but his strained relationship with the UFC was irreparably damaged two years later with defeat to Brock Lesnar. The former wrestling superstar beat Hunt by unanimous decision but that was later overturned to a ‘no contest’ after the American returned a positive result in pre-fight and in-competition doping tests.
It resulted in Hunt taking Lesnar, the UFC and White to court on a raft of charges — including alleged racketeering, fraud, battery and civil conspiracy. The case has yet to be resolved but survived a motion to dismiss filed by the UFC in 2017.
“The situation with the company, it is what it is — that’s how things turned out,” Hunt said.
Now, after eight years with the UFC, the 44-year-old is happy to move on to the next phase of his career — but not before one last fight.
The UFC returns to Australia in December, with a fight night in Adelaide. With four fighters from the Oceania region already confirmed on the card, Hunt was hoping he would have the chance to add to that number. There had been rumours of potential opponents for Hunt but the UFC have yet to confirm anything.
Hunt says he plans to keep his options open after his next bout, whenever it may be, with plenty of avenues in combat sports.
He won’t rule out a move to boxing or kickboxing but there is one thing he is certain of: “The UFC dream is gone. Now it’s time for something bigger and better.”