‘Boy from the hood’ ready to go
Mark Hunt and Derrick Lewis had nothing but respect for each other as the festivities ramped up for the UFC’S return to Auckland, but expect that to go out the window come Sunday.
The trash talk was at a minimum with the headline acts for UFC Fight Night given a traditional welcome at Orakei Marae in Auckland yesterday.
Lewis relished his first taste of Maori culture, although, the big American joked it would take a much more than a fearsome haka to leave him rattled.
‘‘I’m from the hood,’’ the ‘Black Beast’ said.
‘‘I’m more scared if a crackhead came walking down the street with no shirt on than seeing something like that. But it was pretty cool.’’
Indeed, Lewis has been through a lot in his 32 years, a overcoming a violent upbringing and three-anda-half years in jail before transforming his life in mixed martial arts.
Over the last 18 months, he has established himself as one of the most destructive heavyweights in the division, winning his last six fights to jump to sixth in the rankings. But he knows Kiwi legend Hunt, who is one place below Lewis, may well be his toughest test yet.
‘‘I didn’t watch Mark growing up, I just heard stories and saw his recent fights,’’ Lewis added.
‘‘I believe he’s one of the toughest out there. If I wanted an easy fight I would’ve called out Francis Ngannou from France but I wanted a tougher fight.’’
Despite being 43 and coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem in March, Hunt is still regarded as one of the hardest-hitting fighters in the sport.
As impressive as Lewis’ form has been, the ‘Super Samoan’ is looking forward to seeing how he handles his famous power.
‘‘They all say they’re pretty tough until they get a punch in the face,’’ Hunt said.
‘‘Everyone at this end is tough, everyone at this end is good at fighting. It’s just a matter how much pain they can take.’’
Like Lewis, Hunt has also spent time in prison and he praised the American for turning his life around.
‘‘At the of the day, Derrick Lewis has taken his life from a negative to a positive like me,’’ the Kiwi said.
‘‘You can’t knock a man for trying to get better from starting with whatever cards he’s been dealt.
‘‘I’ve got nothing bad to say about him. I give him respect - till Sunday.’’
Sunday’s event will be Hunt’s MMA debut in New Zealand and the first time in 16 years he has fought in his homeland.
His career has been overshadowed recently by his legal battle against the UFC, president Dana White and Brock Lesnar over a failed drug test by Lesnar prior to their bout at UFC 200 last July.
The Kiwi scored a minor victory last week when the suit survived a motion to dismiss by the defendants.
And he’s hoping the good news will continue inside the octagon.
‘‘Despite what’s going on around the place it’s good to be fighting where I was born and in front of my home crowd,’’ Hunt said.
‘‘I’ve got to work on Sunday and that’s it. The cards will fall with the courts how it falls - it’s out of my hands.’’