One should probably be careful about declaring that Mark Hunt’s best days are behind him, but perhaps it’s finally true. His one-sided loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC Fight Night 65 on Saturday was sobering for those of us still high on the Hunto-laced Kool-Aid.
Most expected Miocic to win, of course. What we didn’t expect was for him to bully and batter his foe like a high school freshman for 23 minutes. The only things the 32-year-old didn’t do were give Hunt a wedgie and then stuff him in a locker.
But in all fairness, Miocic is arguably second only to Cain Velasquez in terms nightmarish matchups for the Super Samoan. The combination of crisp striking and potent wrestling is exhausting to deal with at the best of times, but especially when you’re a heavyweight suffering the effects of a rough weight cut.
It’s easy to forget that Hunt actually looked terrific against Fabricio Werdum in his previous fight in November. Prior to getting knocked out, he was on course to capture the interim UFC heavyweight title. So, as silly as this sounds in light of his age, perhaps we should give the 41-year-old Hunt the benefit of the doubt for this one.
Without further delay, let’s take a look at which fighters might be in Hunt’s immediate future.