James Elsby-USA TODAY Sports
Attorneys for the UFC seek vast sum following the loss of the Super Samoan’s lawsuit.
UFC 200 was supposed to be the biggest fight card in UFC history. Other than the significance around the number ‘200’ it also marked the end of the 15-year reign of the Fertitta Brothers. On the day of the event it was announced that Frank and Lorenzo had sold ZUFFA LLC, and the UFC, to WME-IMG.
The card was slated to feature superstars Jon Jones and Conor McGregor. However, due to troubles outside of the Octagon, both of their respective fights fell through. The signal had already been sent to WWE legend Brock Lesnar to help save the card. For his opponent, the matchmakers selected former K-1 Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt.
Lesnar would beat Hunt via unanimous decision, following a smothering three-round performance that negated the Super Samoan’s kickboxing. However, the saga was not over. Lesnar’s victory was overturned, and the fight ruled a no contest, after the former champion tested positive for Clomiphene.
This was the third time that one of Hunt’s UFC opponents failed a drug test.
After Lesnar’s drug test failure, Hunt took legal action. He sued Lesnar and UFC President Dana White for $2.5 million (Lesnar’s disclosed UFC 200 purse). The claims for damages included fraud and breach of contract. In the lawsuit Hunt cited a special USADA exemption being provided to Lesnar, which enabled him to compete at UFC 200.
Unfortunately for Hunt, the lawsuit would prove unsuccessful. The final portion of the lawsuit was ruled out by a Nevada court in November, as reported by Forbes and Bloody Elbow’s Paul Gift.
The #UFC won what was left of the Mark Hunt case today on summary judgment pic.twitter.com/PDSc13PD9t
— Paul Gift (@MMAanalytics) November 23, 2019
According to court documents, the penalty to Hunt — for losing this case — could be very costly. Gift revealed, in a series of tweets, that the UFC has now filed a motion against Hunt to recover $388,000 in legal fees.
Ouch. #UFC filed a motion to recover $302K in attorney’s fees and $86K in costs from Mark Hunt for being the prevailing party in his lawsuit. $388K in total. pic.twitter.com/HecGqRnlvc
— Paul Gift (@MMAanalytics) December 6, 2019
Hunt can appeal this motion.
After a storied career in PRIDE, DREAM, and K-1 kickboxing, Hunt first appeared for the UFC in 2010. He would have 18 fights with the promotion. The height of his UFC tenure came with an interim UFC heavyweight title fight versus Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 in November, 2015. Hunt lost that bout by TKO. His final UFC fight was a decision loss to Justin Willis in 2018.