The MMA world was sent into a frenzy this morning (Mon., June 6, 2016) when it was announced that former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would meet No. 8-ranked slugger Mark Hunt in the co-main event of July 9’s blockbuster UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event from Las Vegas.
Lesnar was famously unveiled to be making his MMA return before last Saturday’s UFC 199 from Inglewood, California, which obviously got journalist Ariel Helwani into some highly-publicized hot water with the UFC. But as for Lesnar, the hulking onetime heavyweight boss actually opening up as a -200 favorite over ‘The Super Samoan’ despite nearly five years away from the Octagon according to BestFightOdds.com.
Hunt was somehow a +176 underdog to Lesnar, who has a well known reputation for not exactly being able to take punches to the face.
But those odds quickly corrected themselves when the smart money apparently went in Hunt, the walk-off knockout specialist has won three of his last five fights by some form of knockout, while losing the other two current champion Stipe Miocic and former champion Fabricio Werdum.
As of this writing, ‘The Super Samoan’ is now a -185 favorite, with Lesnar plunging down to a +155 dog. The WWE superstar’s NCAA-level wrestling pedigree is a problem for any man who steps into the cage with him, however; and Hunt has been given trouble with elite-level mat technicians in the past.
Regardless, it’s a more than intriguing match-up, as Lesnar was arguably the biggest star the UFC has ever seen in terms of sheer overall drawing numbers’ regardless of what featherweight champion Conor McGregor might have you believe.
UFC 200 will go down from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, with light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier meeting interim champ Jon Jones to unify the belts in the main event, while Jose Aldo will meet Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight belt in one of the most stacked PPV cards of all-time.
Will you be betting on Lesnar or Hunt when July 9 rolls around?
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