Hunt set for his UFC swansong
Mark Hunt has reportedly been granted his wish of a UFC swansong in Australia at the end of the year.
The Sydney-based Kiwi heavyweight has been booked to meet rising American Justin Willis at UFC Fight Night in Adelaide on December 2, according to ESPN. It is likely to be his final appearance in the promotion.
Hunt (13-13-1, 1 NC) has one fight left on his contract and following his first round defeat to Aleksei Oleynik in Russia earlier this month, he said he was pushing for a spot on the Adelaide card.
The 44-year-old has been at loggerheads with the UFC over the past two years stemming from Brock Lesnar’s failed drugs test following their bout at UFC 200.
As a result he filed a lawsuit against the promotion, UFC president Dana White and Lesnar, which is ongoing, and is unlikely to seek a contract extension.
However, that does not mean he is about to retire from MMA with the ‘Super Samoan’ previously indicating that he will look to continue in other promotions.
Turkish striker Gokhan Saki recently expressed a desire to move up from the light-heavyweight division to meet Hunt, which was met positively by Hunt on social media.
Instead, the UFC have matched him against Willis (7-1), who is beginning to make a name for himself after a year in the company.
Willis, 31, has won his last seven fights, including going 3-0 in the UFC to move to 15th in the division. But he is yet to step into the octagon against a fighter of Hunt’s calibre.
The Adelaide event is headlined by Hunt’s training partner and fellow heavyweight, Australian Tai Tuivasa against former champion Junior dos Santos.
It also features the UFC debut of Kiwi flyweight Kai Kara-France against Ashkan Mokhtarian, with more bouts expected to be added in the coming weeks.