Tag: Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt Undergoes Tests In Las Vegas To Determine UFC Future

Longtime fan favorite Mark Hunt has completed tests that will largely determine the future of his decorated fight career. “The Super Samoan” was removed from his scheduled headliner against Marcin Tybura at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, after telling Players Voice that he was experiencing concerning symptoms like memory loss, trouble […]

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Longtime fan favorite Mark Hunt has completed tests that will largely determine the future of his decorated fight career.

“The Super Samoan” was removed from his scheduled headliner against Marcin Tybura at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, after telling Players Voice that he was experiencing concerning symptoms like memory loss, trouble sleeping, and slurring of his words, a showdown that lead to a harsh response from Hunt towards the UFC.

UFC President Dana White insisted they were simply trying to help Hunt avoid potentially serious issues such as CTE, and that he could come to Las Vegas to have some tests conducted to make sure he could continue to fight following a long career of absorbing insane amounts of punishment as one of the most notoriously iron-chinned fighters MMA has ever seen.

Apparently Hunt took his employers up on that offer, as ESPN’s Brett Okamoto tweeted that “The Super Samoan” was in Las Vegas meeting with a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic:

After speaking to his management, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani expanded on Okamoto’s earlier report by revealing Hunt had completed the examination and a report would be coming next week, with Hunt and his team remaining confident he would be cleared. The Australian knockout artist reportedly then went to the UFC Performance Institute:

The MMA universe will await the results of the tests with baited breath, as Hunt is deservedly one of the most beloved fighters in the game thanks to his otherworldly knockout power.

He was also revered for a chin that matched, although it has begun to show the inevitable signs of wear that any top fighter would show after years of taking punches from the best heavyweights in the sport. No matter what the tests reveal, Hunt will go down as one of the toughest and old-school fighters, and if he is indeed allowed to fight on, we can only wish his health remains steadfast as he fights on well into his 40s.

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10 Veteran UFC Stars Who Should Hang Up Their Gloves

When is enough enough? For many of the best MMA fighters, that’s the toughest question to answer when it comes to ending their own careers in the cage. Whether it’s due to their natural fighting instincts, their continued need to make ends meet, a stubborn refusal to accept that their time has come and gone, […]

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When is enough enough? For many of the best MMA fighters, that’s the toughest question to answer when it comes to ending their own careers in the cage.

Whether it’s due to their natural fighting instincts, their continued need to make ends meet, a stubborn refusal to accept that their time has come and gone, or just scant regard for their own well-being, many veteran stars end up delaying the inevitable far longer than they should.

The consequences for that can be devastating, and in this article, we’ll look at 10 high-profile UFC stars who have already traveled far down that path as they continue to put their long-term health and legacies at risk by delivering subpar performances and enduring repeated beatdowns in the Octagon.

Fighting is a fast-paced, notoriously unforgiving contest.

To be clear, we, as fans and/or writers can never tell a fighter when he or she should hang up their gloves, but at a certain point, it becomes difficult to watch our once-great idols sustain what could be life-altering trauma, and that pales in comparison to the heartache suffered by that fighter and their own family. With that said, let’s take a look at 10 formerly elite combatants who could avoid all (or at last most) of that by walking away right now.

Diego Sanchez

For many years, Sanchez was hailed as having one of the best chins in the game, holding a proud record of having only being stopped once (due to a cut) in 34 fights stretched over a 14-year period, despite having been in numerous brutal and bloody battles from featherweight all the way up to middleweight.

Then in July of 2016 at the historic UFC 200 event, his chin finally gave way when Joe Lauzon flattened him in just 86 seconds.

Though he did win his next fight, worse was to come in 2017 as Sanchez suffered back-to-back knockouts against Al Iaquinta and Matt Brown in a matter of minutes.

Even before this recent decline, Sanchez’s penchant for slugfests had led to concerns that he was taking too much punishment in the Octagon, and if it hadn’t been for highly controversial split decision victories over Takanori Gomi and Ross Pearson, he would have been on a six-fight losing streak from 2012-2015.

Nevertheless, the 35-year-old warrior’s fighting spirit still burns bright and so he’s vowed not to retire, and unfortunately, with his record showing that he’s never lost more than two fights in a row, he’ll likely be allowed to continue to compete even though it’s clearly against his best interests.

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UFC Sydney: Alexander Volkanovski Gets New Opponent

It may turn out to be a case of third time lucky for Alexander Volkanovski in terms of opponents he has been scheduled to fight at this weekend’s UFC Sydney The Australian saw both Jeremy Kennedy and Humberto Bandenay pull out against him at UFC Fight …

It may turn out to be a case of third time lucky for Alexander Volkanovski in terms of opponents he has been scheduled to fight at this weekend’s UFC Sydney The Australian saw both Jeremy Kennedy and Humberto Bandenay pull out against him at UFC Fight Night 121. Luckily for Volkanovski, newcomer Shane Young has […]

Mark Hunt Reacts To Dana White’s Open Letter About His Removal

UFC heavyweight star Mark Hunt is still upset with the promotion and President Dana White. Hunt was set to take on Marcin Tybura in the heavyweight main event of UFC Sydney (UFC Fight Night 121), which is slated to take place on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. However, the […]

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UFC heavyweight star Mark Hunt is still upset with the promotion and President Dana White.

Hunt was set to take on Marcin Tybura in the heavyweight main event of UFC Sydney (UFC Fight Night 121), which is slated to take place on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

However, the promotion announced that “The Super Samoan” has been removed from that booking due to “medical concerns” and he will be replaced by former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

The promotion is claiming to be looking out for the best interest of the former title contender. However, that doesn’t mean that Hunt agrees with it or is pleased about its latest decision regarding his career.

Hunt spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and during the interview, he made it known that is not sure what his future holds with the promotion following his removal from the event.

“As soon as we pinpoint what the issue is, we can fix it,” Hunt said. “I’m willing to take more tests. You tell me what I need to do. They’re not saying exactly what’s wrong with me, why they pulled me.”

It’s well known by now that White wrote an open letter to the Daily Telegraph earlier this week to explain the reason for not letting Hunt compete at the upcoming event. White noted that the promotion asked Hunt to fly to Las Vegas to get tests done at the Lou Ruvo Brain Center, but Hunt refused to do so.

Hunt gave his side of the story by stating that he didn’t want to fly to Las Vegas for tests. Thus, the reason he asked if he could just do them in Sydney. The UFC informed him that he could, and that is exactly what he did. Hunt mentioned that the tests came back negative of any issues and White’s letter was “rubbish.”

“I did do it in Australia and they still pulled me from the card,” Hunt said. “They didn’t use the doctors results that they got. They still pulled me. They didn’t listen to the doctors’ reports. … Why should i have to fly all the way out to Las Vegas for? Why?”

Hunt stated that if the promotion told him that he had to fly to Las Vegas, which is where the UFC headquarters are located, and if he didn’t then they wouldn’t let him fight at the event then he would have done it willing. At the end of the day, he stated that the lawyers he was in contact with never said that.

The hard-hitting heavyweight is still willing to fly to the states for tests now. He also thinks that the main reason the promotion is taking these actions is due to his separate lawsuit against them.

White refuted that statement in the letter by stating that they have booked Hunt in two fights since that lawsuit was filed. As a result of those two fights, Hunt has made $1,645,000 from the UFC.

“That’s money I worked for,” Hunt said. … “You haven’t paid me nothing. I’ve earned that money.” They don’t like people telling the truth. You want the truth? You can’t handle the f*cking truth! There are three fights left on his contract. He either wants to fight or he wants to be compensated for those fights. They’re got three fights to honor. Either pay me out of the contract or give me three fights.”

“If there’s things they want me to do to compete, then fine,” Hunt said. “I’ll do that. I need to do these three fights and move on. … I’m still waiting for what they want me to do. I’m still waiting to here what it is that I need to do to fix this.”

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Mark Hunt Is Ripping Mad and Completely Uncertain About Future with UFC

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt is an angry man, but it’s not an opponent who has him ripping mad. It’s the fact he doesn’t have an opponent, or any real clue where his career is heading, following the UFC’s decision to pull him from a November bout with Mar…

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt is an angry man, but it’s not an opponent who has him ripping mad. It’s the fact he doesn’t have an opponent, or any real clue where his career is heading, following the UFC’s decision to pull him from a November bout with Marcin Tybura.

While it’s been nearly three weeks since the promotion made that call, Hunt is still most displeased with the situation and is stating that the move is a punitive measure from the company. He discussed this, and where he is heading, in an interview with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (warning: NSFW language).

“The truth is, I don’t even know what’s happening right now. We’ve asked them to pinpoint what it is that is wrong with me, and they still haven’t said what it is,” he said. “They sent some lame-ass email saying ‘blah blah blah. … Unless we find out what’s wrong with you, then we’ll get back to you.’ You’re never going to find what’s wrong with me because there’s nothing wrong with me.”

Hunt has long had a testy relationship with UFC brass, dating back to 2013. Things exploded in January, however, when the former K-1 kickboxer filed a lawsuit against the promotion stemming from his UFC 200 fight with Brock Lesnar, who failed a pre-fight drug test but was allowed to compete because the test was not screened until after the contest.

Despite speculation that the case would result in his being “put on ice” by the UFC, Hunt’s career seemed to progress normally from there, as he competed in a high-profile pay-per-view bout at UFC 209 and headlined UFC Fight Night 110 three months later. When a ghostwritten article bashing the UFC and discussing the toll his career has taken on his brain appeared on PlayersVoice, however, the company made the rare move to pull him from a scheduled match.

On the one hand, it’s difficult to blame the UFC for playing it safe with Hunt. But on the other hand, it’s hard not to notice that it’s only the Super Samoan being given this sort of treatment despite many similar stories coming out from active fighters.

“Look at [Georges St-Pierre]. He’s fighting this week, I think, and he says he’s seeing aliens and missing four or five hours at a time,” he said earlier in the interview. “Why haven’t they pulled him? Do they send him to the same doctors they wanted me to go to? … Why is he still competing?”

Unfortunately, it’s not clear what the future holds for Hunt, who closed the interview by stating his willingness to go through additional testing administered at the UFC’s discretion. Either way, given his indication that he wants to leave the promotion at the end of his contract, his days with the company are numbered.

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Dana White Releases Open Letter Addressing Mark Hunt’s Removal

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt was irate when the promotion removed him from his scheduled main event versus Marcin Tybura at November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, earlier this month, a move he said would cost him upwards of $1 million dollars. Hunt lashed out at UFC President Dana White, claiming he was perfectly […]

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UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt was irate when the promotion removed him from his scheduled main event versus Marcin Tybura at November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, earlier this month, a move he said would cost him upwards of $1 million dollars.

Hunt lashed out at UFC President Dana White, claiming he was perfectly fit and healthy to compete, but had been removed due to his ongoing lawsuit against the UFC, White, and Brock Lesnar in conjunction with UFC 200. But White cited an interview Hunt did with Australian publication Players Voice where the longtime knockout artist admitted he was slurring his words, having trouble sleeping, and losing his memory.

Hunt was replaced by former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum.

The situation seemed set if not exactly resolved, but now, White has explained himself even further in an open letter penned to The Daily Telegraph where he revealed Hunt had never been cleared to fight as he claimed.

Read the full letter right here:

Mark Hunt was never “cleared” to fight Marcin Tybura in Sydney, Australia this November. Period. And the statements he’s been making, saying that he is, are just not true.

Let me tell you what I know.

Mark Hunt recently wrote an op-ed piece for an Australian website that described some serious symptoms.

He wrote that he’s starting to stutter and slur his words.

He wrote that he’s not sleeping well.

He wrote that he can’t remember something he did yesterday.

These are his words, from him, but now he’s saying it was taken out of context. How can you take your own words out of context? So you know what I did? My team contacted his management within the first week of learning about these symptoms and offered to fly him to Las Vegas first class to visit the Lou Ruvo Brain Center — which is the best in the world for brain research — to get more tests done. And you know what? He absolutely refused.

How can I put a guy with these symptoms he said he’s experiencing immediately back in the Octagon without additional tests? I definitely wasn’t going to do that. So I did the only thing I could do — which is to pull him off an event that would have him fighting just nine weeks after writing his piece so he can have the proper time to see a specialist. Let me remind you that this is an event I already had signed contracts for and spent a lot of money marketing and advertising, so this was a big loss. But it was the right thing to do.

So here we are now. After all of this, Mark is saying that I have it out for him and I am holding a grudge because he filed a lawsuit. Let me ask you this:

Would I have placed him in two additional fights, including one in which he headlined the event?

Or paid him 1.645 million dollars, which includes a $50k Fight of the Night bonus and a $25k discretionary bonus?

All of this was AFTER the lawsuit, so how can anyone say I have any issues with this guy?

Bottom line, my job is to put on the best fights in the world and part of that is to protect these guys from themselves. I get it, they’re fighters and they want to fight. But this only works if safety comes first, and that’s always been my goal — to provide a level playing field and a safe, regulated environment for our fighters to compete in. I’ve been doing that for almost 20 years and I’m not going to stop now.

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