Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt Goes Off On Possible Jon Jones vs. Brock Lesnar Superfight

It’s been well documented that after knocking out Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 214 last month to win the UFC light heavyweight title, Jon Jones called out former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. This led to Lesnar being quick to respond to Jones, and this has resulted in the belief that a […]

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There has been a mixed reaction to this possible fight. Some love it, and some hate it. One person who is not a fan of the fight is UFC heavyweight fighter, Mark Hunt.

Lesnar and Hunt have some history together as Hunt is the last man to have fought Lesnar in the world famous Octagon last year at UFC 200. This marked Lesnar’s return to MMA after an almost five-year retirement. As seen in the fight, Lesnar won a unanimous decision that night which was subsequently overturned when it was revealed he failed two USADA issued drug tests before the bout. This led to Hunt filing a civil suit against Lesnar and the UFC to settle his grievances.

Hunt recently appeared on the Real Quick (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting) with Mike Swick podcast to talk about this potential fight. He believes it’s a clash between “the two biggest cheaters in the world.”

“Look at these f**kers. You’ve got Jon Jones, for instance. That guy is the best, one of the best fighters in the world but he’s a cheater. . . Just like Brock Lesnar, you’re all a pack of frickin’ dog cheats, that’s all you are. Nothing else.

“So now the two f**king biggest cheaters in the world are going to fight! Oh f**k. . . I’m not gonna waste my money watching two cheaters fight. Why would I? They’re cheaters, in the end. That’s basically all they are. They should get nothing. I used to respect Jon Jones before this, but I don’t respect him after this. When you get caught for doping, and he got caught for the same dope that Lesnar did, you shouldn’t – he’s not a martial artist, none of them are. They get no respect from me. None. I wouldn’t want to waste my f**king time watching that s**t.”

On the flip side, Jones was also set to compete at UFC 200 in the main event against Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight title. However, the bout was pulled after he failed a drug test. “DC” would instead fight Anderson Silva at the event. Both men were suspended for one year, and Lesnar was also fined $250,000.

“I think the penalties should be enforced. There’s penalties there, but they’re not really enforcing them. They’re not enforcing them to make them think twice. Guys nowadays, like that fool Brock Lesnar that I fought, he’s a f**king idiot. Not right now. I’m the idiot right now, but he’s the one that’s a loser in the end because he’s the one that cheated.

“At the end of the day, he weighed up the options. He said, I’m gonna fight this fight, and I’ll probably make about $15-20 million. I’ll get caught. I’ll probably have to pay a $250,000 fine, or $500,000 or whatever it is and I’ll walk away. He’s back again already!”

According to the hard-hitting fighter, he doesn’t think anyone should want him to anyway.

“Cheating is nothing to be proud of. That’s the wrong message. We don’t allow that as a society so why do we allow that, especially in fighting? Fighting is you hurting people.”

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Tinfoil Hats: Top 10 MMA Conspiracy Theories

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you, so grab your finest tin foil hat and join us as we take a deep dive into the weird, wonderful and wacky world of MMA conspiracy theories! Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice Was A Work: Bellator’s decision in 2015 to put on a […]

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Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice Was A Work:

Bellator’s decision in 2015 to put on a fight between 51-year-old Ken Shamrock and 41-year-old former backyard brawler Kimbo Slice seemed like a terrible idea, and the resulting fight was indeed painful to watch.

On paper, Shamrock was the superior grappler, but despite taking Kimbo’s back and flattening him out early in the first round, his attempt to apply a rear-naked choke not only failed, but resulted in his opponent managing to escape, get back upright and then TKO him with strikes with just 2.22mins on the clock.

Fans took to social media to call the fight a fix, FOX Sport’s Katie Nolan questioned its validity and then Joe Rogan added fuel to the fire.

”That fight looked fake as f**k,” Rogan stated on his ‘Fight Companion podcast.

Rogan noted how Shamrock looked too relaxed during his walkout, suggested it was “suspect” that the two fighters were both, “mouth to ear for a long f*cking time” during a prolonged clinch early in the fight, and was left perplexed that Shamrock hadn’t landed a single punch after getting in an extremely dominant position on the mat.

It’s not the first time Shamrock has been the subject of fight-fixing allegations, but he has since angrily rejected Rogan’s insinuation.

“Don’t be hiding behind your mic and saying things that are not true,” Shamrock warned Rogan during an interview at the time, while also complaining that unfounded speculation like that could ruin his career.

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10 Current UFC Stars Who Fought In Boxing

How would a UFC star fare in the boxing ring? That’s the question everybody seems to be debating in the build-up to Conor McGregor’s blockbuster fight with Floyd Mayweather on August 26th, but it’s worth keeping in mind that ‘The Notorious’ is far from the first UFC fighter to have fought in the squared circle. […]

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How would a UFC star fare in the boxing ring?

That’s the question everybody seems to be debating in the build-up to Conor McGregor’s blockbuster fight with Floyd Mayweather on August 26th, but it’s worth keeping in mind that ‘The Notorious’ is far from the first UFC fighter to have fought in the squared circle.

In all fairness, the circumstances surrounding McGregor Vs Mayweather are unique. We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before – a UFC champion at the peak of their career head to the boxing ring, let alone agreeing to face one of that sport’s all-time greats.

Nevertheless, there are a number of fighters currently fighting in the UFC who do have professional boxing bouts on their records, often from much earlier in their career’s, and in this article, we’ll take a closer look at how they did – from the good and the bad through the downright ugly.

Anderson Silva

One of MMA’s all-time greats, Anderson Silva has also tested his skills in the boxing ring twice during his combat sports career.

His pro boxing debut took place in his native Brazil all the way back in 1998 when he was just 23 years old. At the time he was only just getting started in his MMA career too, with both of his wins at the time having come during a single-night tournament a year earlier.

Despite his lack of experience, Silva was handed a tough first outing against Osmar Luiz Teixeira, a cruiserweight (200 pounds) who held an 8-2 boxing record and had finished six of his fights inside the distance.

No video or photographs exist of the fight, but officially it was recorded as a victory for Teixeira due to Silva retiring after the second round, allegedly due to body shots.

After a two year absence, Silva returned to MMA, and by 2005 had amassed a 15-3 record, but after surpisingly being released by the PRIDE organization, he briefly opted to return to the boxing ring.

This time he faced Julio Cesar de Jesus, a newcomer who would prove to be no match for Silva’s by-now seasoned striking and was finished with punches to the body and head in the second round.

It wasn’t long before Silva signed for the UFC and he would go on to achieve superstardom as their long-reigning middleweight champion, but over the years he’s also harbored an ambition to fight legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr in the ring.

However, despite both indicating their interest in the match-up, this particular super fight has never come to fruition.

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Brock Lesnar Reacts To Jon Jones’ Superfight Challenge

It didn’t take long for Brock Lesnar to respond to Jon Jones’ challenge. After the former light heavyweight champion said he’d ‘love’ to fight Lesnar in the octagon during a Facebook chat today, “The Beast” quickly caught wind of the situation, telling The Associated Press that while he’s willing to fight “Bones” anywhere, the troubled […]

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It didn’t take long for Brock Lesnar to respond to Jon Jones’ challenge.

After the former light heavyweight champion said he’d ‘love’ to fight Lesnar in the octagon during a Facebook chat today, “The Beast” quickly caught wind of the situation, telling The Associated Press that while he’s willing to fight “Bones” anywhere, the troubled returnee has a different challenge on his hands this week:

“Would I fight Jon Jones? Anytime, anywhere,” Lesnar said. “Right now he should be worried about D.C. on Saturday night.”

Many are picking the -250 favorite Jones to get past Cormier at UFC 214 from Anaheim this Saturday, and it’s not hard to see why considering he beat him once. But Lesnar has a good point as well because while Jones has only secured one lackluster win over Ovince Saint Preux since beating Cormier in January 2015, ‘DC’ has won four straight fights over Anderson Silva, Anthony Johnson, and Alexander Gustafsson.

Jones’ extreme inconsistencies coupled with his inactivity will make his fight with Cormier an uncertain one, even if he has the obvious talent to beat him and is still arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA. If he does indeed beat Cormier a second time, a bout with Lesnar in his long-rumored move to heavyweight certainly has the potential to be one of the highest-grossing bouts in UFC pay-per-view history.

“Bones” has made it seem like he has a special talent for ruining massively profitable fights, however, so even if Lesnar is willing to face him, a lot of procedural red tape still has to be bypassed. Lesnar remains suspended for now even if rumors recently revealed he had supposedly rejoined the USADA testing pool, his one-year ban from USADA ‘frozen’ after he retired from MMA last year.

If he can get cleared to fight Jones, what a sight it would be.

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UFC Denies Brock Lesnar Has Re-Entered USADA Testing Pool

Several rumors circulating about Brock Lesnar returning to the octagon will have to wait – at least for now. Several sources, including Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, recently reported that Lesnar had re-entered the USADA drug testing pool, a requirement for coming out of retirement to potentially compete in the UFC. However, that just isn’t the […]

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Several rumors circulating about Brock Lesnar returning to the octagon will have to wait – at least for now.

Several sources, including Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, recently reported that Lesnar had re-entered the USADA drug testing pool, a requirement for coming out of retirement to potentially compete in the UFC.

However, that just isn’t the case according to UFC vice president of athlete health and wellness Jeff Novitzky, who confirmed to MMA Fighting that Lesnar had not re-entered the pool for any supposed comeback, which was rumored to be at November 4’s pay-per-view spectacular from Madison Square Garden. If he did choose to do so and come out of retirement, then Lesnar will have a full slate of requirements to bypass before he could potentially fight.

First and most impactful is his one-year anti-doping suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance in both out and in-competition samples before and after his smothering win over Mark Hunt at last year’s UFC 200, a somewhat uninspired return that actually lead to “The Super Samoan” leveling a racketeering (among other nefarious charges) lawsuit at the UFC, Lesnar, and Dana White. Lesnar’s suspension is ‘frozen,’ and so he would still have more than six months to serve even if he did choose to un-retire, meaning he could not compete until next year at the earliest.

Novitzky spelled it out in his response to MMA Fighting:

“If he ever re-entered the program, he’d have to serve [the duration of the suspension] before he’d be able to compete.”

Photo by Joshua Dahl for USA TODAY Sports

A comeback seems like a far-off possibility for Lesnar as of right now; then again, no one thought he would ever return to the octagon last year after almost five years way from MMA as he won titles in pro-wrestling. But there are just too many significant roadblocks that stand in the way of his return to come close to anything final, and with it being confirmed he has not actually re-entered the pool and still has a significant amount of time left on his suspension, these rumors can now be considered to be only that – rumors.

The UFC is in a tough spot because they got blasted with a ton of criticism for allowing Lesnar to only be tested for one month prior to his UFC 200 return via an exemption from the then-required four months for a returning athlete, so it could be unlikely that, under new ownership WME-IMG, they choose to become involved in any avoidable controversy. Lesnar would have been a big name to add to the marquee of what is sure to be one of the biggest UFC events of a year that needs a couple of those quite desperately.

Georges St-Pierre has been rumored to be making his oft-discussed return to the octagon at that card, and Conor McGregor has also been linked to a NY return after he boxes Floyd Mayweather on August 26.

As of right now, those names will just have to be enough, because Lesnar will be out until 2018.

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10 Current UFC Fighters Who Have Been To Jail

Boxing is often credited with having given many a troubled youth an alternate path away from a life of crime, as well as an opportunity to make something of themselves – and the sport of mixed martial arts is no different. Researching this article, there were many tales to be had of the rough childhoods, […]

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Researching this article, there were many tales to be had of the rough childhoods, thuggish behavior, and poor choices that had led to 10 current UFC stars having been sent to jail at some point in their lives.

However, one recurring theme that cropped up more often than not was of these individuals then discovered MMA upon their release, and they were then able to use that as a springboard to move beyond their criminal past, channel their energy and attention in a more positive direction, and it ultimately lead to them competing in the Octagon.

It’s a positive take on what is otherwise a dark collection of stories that demonstrate just how close some of these stars came to throwing away any chance they had of making something of their lives. Let’s take a look back at how 10 current UFC athletes turned it around after going to jail.

Some of heavy-handed heavyweight Mark Hunt’s many fans may be surprised to discover that in his younger days before he discovered MMA, he had a reputation for violence and criminal behavior in his home city of Auckland, New Zealand.

Hunt and his siblings suffered horrific physical abuse at the hands of their father growing up, and the anger felt as a result of that led to him regularly getting into trouble himself for fighting on the streets.

Hunt also became involved in petty crimes and admits to having stolen dozens of cars in his early teens, before finally being sentenced to nine months in jail at just 16-years-old after mugging a man for his Dr Martens shoes.

Hunt didn’t learn his lesson though and was later put behind bars again for assault.

It was only when a bouncer convinced him to try martial arts after witnessing him knock out several people outside a nightclub that Hunt finally started to get his life on track, and in the two decades since he’s gone from living a pitiful existence to earning $750,000 every time he fights in the Octagon.

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