Mark Hunt is back at it again and he’s targeting Jon Jones this time around.
Ahead of Jones’ long-awaited heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane tonight (Sat., Mar. 4, 2023) at UFC 285 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hunt has taken to social media to launch a long verbal attack on “Bones” and the promotion as a whole.
Hunt, who was a member of the UFC roster from 2010-2018, had a rough relationship with the organization both before and after his exit. “Super Samoan” filed a RICO lawsuit against the promotion, UFC president Dana White, and Brock Lesnar back in 2017. In the lawsuit, Hunt claimed that UFC allowed Lesnar to fight at UFC 200 despite testing positive for banned substances before and also after the event.
To say Hunt is strict on steroid use in UFC competition would be an understatement.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the former heavyweight contender is bothered by Jones and his highly-promoted return to action. Remember, Jones has tested positive for a few banned substances over the years and doesn’t have a perfect track record to fall back on. Hunt tried to expose that this week and put UFC’s feet to the fire as well.
“Sik of this rat company up on my feed. All they do is promote steroid using rats like this loser,” Hunt wrote via Facebook accompanied with a photo of Jones. “Listen up. It’s the world heavyweight title of a worthless rubbish belt worth nothing. U got a steroid using rodent who runs over pregnant women and hides under the Octagon when USADA is trying to drug test this rodent. UFC = joke belt. The only thing u are the world champion of is being exploited. That’s why @ufc will never be credible because they have rodents like this being considered GOAT. #ALIACT and dasseeeiiitt.”
It’s a mouth full, but it’s safe to say Hunt is not a fan of Jones.
Luckily, Hunt doesn’t run UFC and isn’t in control of who fights. Despite his past issues outside of the cage Jones remains the greatest fighter in the history of the sport in the eyes of most fight fans. His return tonight at UFC 285 will be one of the biggest moments in combat sports this year and give Jones the opportunity to start fresh in a new weight class.
As for Hunt, he’ll have to stomach the action later tonight as Jones headlines one of the biggest fight cards of the year.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 285 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 285: “Jones vs. Gane” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 285 fight card and PPV lineup click here.