Hunt pulled from UFC event
Mark Hunt has been withdrawn from next month’s UFC Sydney event after confessing to slurring his words and losing his memory.
Hunt was scheduled to meet Marcin Tybura in the main event of the UFC Fight Night on November 19, however, the organisation confirmed that Brazilian Fabricio Werdum has taken the Kiwi heavyweight’s place.
UFC officials reviewed the article Hunt wrote for the Players
Voice and decided that, in the interests of fighter safety, he must be withdrawn from the fight for further testing, The Daily Tele
graph reported.
Hunt, who is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with the UFC after former opponent Brock Lesnar failed two drug tests following their bout last year, responded with a foul-mouthed tirade on Facebook and vowed to launch another lawsuit against the company.
But a UFC official said they were acting in the fighter’s best interests.
‘‘Following a recent first-person article published by heavyweight Mark Hunt, the UFC has taken the precautionary steps of removing Hunt from a previously announced bout in Sydney, Australia,’’ the official told the Telegraph.
‘‘The health-related statements made by Hunt in the article represent the first time UFC was made aware of these claims.
‘‘Athlete health and safety is of the utmost importance to the organisation and it would never knowingly schedule an athlete complaining of health issues for a fight. The organisation will require that Hunt undergo further testing and evaluations prior to competing in any future UFC bout.’’
In a first-person piece for the
Players Voice last month, Hunt opened up about the brutal toll his 16-year combat sports career has had on his mind and body.
‘‘Sometimes I don’t sleep well. You can hear me starting to stutter and slur my words,’’ he wrote.
‘‘My memory is not that good anymore. I’ll forget something I did yesterday but I can remember the s... I did years and years ago. That’s just the price I’ve paid - the price of being a fighter.
‘‘But I’ve fought a lot of drug cheats and copped a lot of punishment from guys who were cheating and that’s not right.’’