Following the disappointing news Wednesday that Alistair Overeem would be pulling out of a pivotal heavyweight matchup with Junior dos Santos at UFC 160, many fans hoped they’d see JDS fight Mark Hunt instead.
The fight made a lot of sense given “The Reem’s” slightly torn quad muscle and Hunt’s four-fight winning streak, especially considering “The Super Samoan’s” highlight-reel knockout of Stefan Struve last week.
However, when UFC president Dana White addressed a disgruntled fan on Twitter, he revealed the heavy-handed fan favorite actually turned down a potential slugfest with the former UFC heavyweight champ.
@anakinskyboogie hey dummy Mark Hunt turned down the fight with JDS as of last night so STFU when u don’t know what ur talkin about.
— Dana White (@danawhite) March 7, 2013
This news is particularly shocking, as Wednesday night, Hunt told MMA Fighting he’d be happy to fight “Cigano” if given the opportunity. “If I get the call for the fight, I’m there, of course, and the fans are crazy for it, so it ‘s good…Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I’m not injured. I’m always down for a battle…I was born down. You know this.”
Following his UFC on FUEL 8 victory over Struve, Hunt is ranked No. 9 on the UFC’s official rankings.
Despite recently losing his belt to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in December, dos Santos is currently ranked No. 1.
White later clarified that he still plans on giving Hunt a Top 10 opponent next:
@nickfury16 @markhunt1974 with his win last week he broke into the top 10. He will get a top 10 fight but as of last nite he turned down JDS
— Dana White (@danawhite) March 7, 2013
Could there have been some sort of miscommunication between White and Hunt, or was the PRIDE veteran truly all talk when it came to a match up with dos Santos?
For now, Hunt’s legion of rabid fans will have to wait at least one more fight before he steps into the cage with someone from the very upper echelon of the division. Any suggestions on who he should bang with next?
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