Just three days after fighting Antonio Silva in what is being talked about as one of the greatest UFC heavyweight fights of all time, Mark Hunt graciously appeared on the MMA Hour to discuss it.
And, not surprisingly, the laid-back New Zealander downplayed the 25 minutes of action that took place in Brisbane on Friday night, action that the general public has been gushing over all weekend.
“I just thought it was a normal fight,” the “Super Samoan” told host Ariel Helwani. “It was pretty good…I thought it was pretty good.”
“Normal” and “pretty good” don’t begin to describe the teetering encounter of the UFC Fight Night 33 headlining bout, where both fighters had the other in serious jeopardy on various occasions. The drama only escalated throughout the fight, and yet each man — bloodied and battered — was still standing after each round.
In the end, the judges scored the bout a majority draw, which — contrary to usual fight game taste — many felt was just. What mystified some people, though, was that the fifth and final round was scored a 10-8 for Hunt to force the draw, rather than the third round, which felt like a more definitive example of a 10-8 round.
In either case, both Hunt and Silva got their arms raised. And three days removed from that decision, Hunt himself was totally fine with it.
“I think we both put our hearts out there and we did pretty well,” he said. “I really didn’t mind a draw anyway. We both had our moments in the fight, so it really doesn’t matter to me. I mean, ‘Bigfoot’ popped me and I popped him, so…I wasn’t at all mad about it being a draw. I was sort of like, okay, I can deal with that. I thought it was a good call, the draw.”
The obvious question on people’s mind after a memorable fight that was left unresolved is whether or not there would be an immediate rematch. Hunt, who broke his left hand in two places at some point during the fight and will be sidelined for the first half of 2014, said he wouldn’t refuse a rematch.
But then again, given his druthers, the 39-year old fighter said his one-time training partner and friend wouldn’t be his top choice to see again.
“Well, I wouldn’t like to fight [Silva] again because basically I didn’t want to fight him to start,” he said. “But I’m an employee here [with the UFC] and this is my business.
“I’m out for a while, my metacarpal bones are broken. But whatever they put in front of me to fight, I’m there. I’m always in there for a battle, that’s for sure. I’ve got my dreams. I want to be the best fighter on the planet.”
Hunt said he had feared that he broke his leg in the second round of the battle, and was clearly affected when Silva landed a leg kick. He also thought that he might have broken his right hand, as well, but it turns out both were ultimately okay.
“I just remember I couldn’t hold Bigfoot down,” he said. “In the clinch I couldn’t grab him and I thought, ‘oh my gosh.’”
But his left hand wasn’t so fortunate. He broke it in two places at some point during the fight, though he couldn’t remember when. The metacarpal bones on the thumb and the forefinger are broken, and Hunt will be forced to sit out for as long as it takes to heal.
When asked how long he thought he’d be out for, Hunt didn’t sound overly optimistic that he’d return anytime soon.
“The doctor said it would be six months before I could start hitting anything again,” he said. “I have like 12 screws in my hand.”
Hunt did say that he would test it in three months to see where things were at.