Tag: Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt scored an impressive technical knockout of Derrick Lewis, who hinted toward potential retirement, Sunday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

Derek Brunson, Dan Hooker and Ion Cutelaba, who all earned knockout victories, were the event’s other big winners. Ben Nguyen and Alexander Volkanovski also picked up wins on the main card, which only saw one fight go the distance.

Let’s check out the complete set of results from New Zealand. That’s followed by a closer look at the much-needed triumph by Hunt.

                                 

UFC Fight Night 110 Card Results

Main Card

Mark Hunt d. Derrick Lewis by fourth-round TKO

Derek Brunson d. Dan Kelly by first-round KO

Dan Hooker d. Ross Pearson by second-round KO

Ion Cutelaba d. Henrique da Silva by first-round KO

Ben Nguyen d. Tim Elliott by first-round submission

Alexander Volkanovski d. Mizuto Hirota by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Vinc Pichel d. Damien Brown by first-round KO

Luke Jumeau d. Dominique Steele by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

John Moraga d. Ashkan Mokhtarian by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)

Zak Ottow d. Kiichi Kunimoto by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

JJ Aldrich d. Chan-Mi Jeon by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

                               

Main Event Recap

Hunt faced a lot of pressure heading into Sunday’s bout. Not only was he coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 209, his third defeat in his past six trips to the Octagon, but he received the opportunity to fight professionally in front of his hometown fans in Auckland for the first time.

It never turned into the hard-hitting, quick-ending battle most expected. Instead, the 43-year-old veteran known as the Super Samoan controlled a vast majority of the action against Lewis, who struggled to keep pace physically in the heavyweight clash.

Finally, after a sustained stretch of one-way offense by Hunt in the fourth round, the referee stepped into to prevent the New Orleans native from suffering any unnecessary injuries as his offensive forays had become few and far between in the latter stages.

FOX Sports UFC‏ highlighted the fight’s final moments:

Former UFC star Kenny Florian provided his take on the bout:

Although the highly anticipated collision didn’t live up to expectations, it was still named Fight of the Night to earn both fighters an additional $50,000, per MMA Fighting.

Afterward, Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie passed along comments from Hunt about the emphatic triumph and what he’s got planned for the future.

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” he said. “I know Derrick Lewis is from the ‘hood, but this is my ‘hood. I run this town.”

Hunt added: “Anybody above me is good. I stepped down for Derrick because he was No. 6, but anyone above me, I’ll take. I’ve only got a few more fights left, so for me, if it ended here tonight, so be it. I’ve had a good run. I’ve had a lot of fun, traveled the world. But it looks like it’s still continuing.”

Meanwhile, Lewis admitted he could be done with MMA as he gets prepared to take a major step in his personal life following the loss, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

“I’m getting married next week and I don’t want to keep putting my family through this,” Lewis said. “… Most likely, this will be my last fight in the UFC.”

If he does walk away from the Octagon for good, he’ll finish his career with a 18-5 record, including 16 knockout wins and one no-contest. Sunday’s loss ended a six-fight winning streak.

Hunt improved to 13-11-1 with one no-contest thanks to the win, which was his 10th knockout victory.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see whether Hunt is given a chance to slow the momentum of Francis Ngannou. The Predator is coming off three straight first-round wins, two by knockout and one by submission, to move himself toward the heavyweight title conversation.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Mark Hunt didn’t add to his impressive highlight reel at UFC Fight Night 110, but he scored one of the most joyous wins of his career. Facing Derrick Lewis in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, the Super Samoan got back in the win column with a fourth-round TKO.

While many were expecting the fight to be a short one, Hunt set a deliberate pace early. Whether it was out of respect for Lewis’ pure power or a symptom of his huge height and reach disadvantages, Hunt spent much of the fight stalking Lewis along the perimeter of the cage and stopping any attempts to advance to more favorable territory. Both men found homes for their heavy hands at times, with Lewis landing his devastating uppercuts and Hunt working his counters and lunging crosses, but Hunt’s effective pressure likely put him ahead on the scorecards in each round.

Though Hunt is known for his atomic bomb of a left hand, the finish came from an accumulation of damage rather than his signature deathstroke.

Despite some success with his hands, the Super Samoan’s biggest victories came via his leg kicks. After testing a couple in the first and second rounds, he began actively working Lewis’ left thigh in the third. By the fourth, Lewis was unable to plant his left leg.

Hunt was wise to this and kept the pressure on, mixing up the attack on his enfeebled foe. Eventually, the damage was just too much, and Lewis began ducking and covering to avoid further harm. That drew the referee to stop the match at 3:51 of the fourth round.

It was a critical win for Hunt, who’s now 13-11-1. Despite being one of the most beloved fighters in the UFC, the Kiwi was coming off back-to-back losses at the hands of Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem (though the former has since been overturned to a no contest). A third loss in a row could have been devastating to his career and likely would have killed his hope of a Cinderella title run.

In the shallow heavyweight division, this victory put him right back in line for a title shot, which could be just a couple of fights away.

But while Hunt’s future is bright, Lewis’ is completely uncertain. Following the decision, Lewis took to the microphone to possibly announce his retirement:

It was a huge, and hugely sad, surprise. Despite the loss, the Black Beast was cemented into the division’s top 10, courtesy of a six-fight winning streak that started in October 2015 and didn’t end until Saturday. What’s more, at 32 years old in an aging division, he had a long, bright future ahead of him.

Granted, Lewis would be far from the first fighter to renege on a retirement announcement. If he does walk away, however, the heavyweight division will be lesser without him.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com