Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.
Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.
Will Hunt continue his unlikely rise through the UFC heavyweight division, or will Junior dos Santos prove to be too much for him? Let us know your early predictions in the comments.
After days of rallying, it looks like Mark Hunt will finally get his wish at UFC 160 when he meets former heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos.UFC President Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com on Saturday morning.Dos Santos, who was se…
After days of rallying, it looks like Mark Hunt will finally get his wish at UFC 160 when he meets former heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos.
Dos Santos, who was set to fight Alistair Overeem in the co-main event for UFC 160, was left without an opponent after Overeem pulled out of the fight due to a quadriceps injury.
Known for his incredible knockout power and brutish striking style, Hunt’s name was immediately thrown into the mix as a possible replacement. Hunt, a former Pride legend, has generated a massive following as of late.
His journey back to the top of the heavyweight ranks has been remarkable. He was on a six-fight losing streak a little over two years ago. Now, he has four straight UFC wins to his name, including a knockout victory over top 10 heavyweight contender Stefan Struve.
There was apparently some miscommunication between White and Hunt’s team earlier in the week.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, White stated that Hunt turned down the opportunity to step up and fight Dos Santos. On Friday, Hunt negated the allegations on Twitter and stated he had “never turned down a fight.”
Later in the day, White appeared more optimistic in his next post relating to Hunt on the social networking site.
UFC 160 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25. After losing the heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez, Dos Santos will be looking to rebound and climb back into the title picture.
MMAFighting was able to contact Hunt, who is reportedly “ecstatic” about the chance to fight Dos Santos. He called the opportunity “my title shot.”
The rallying can now cease for Mark Hunt, as he will indeed get his shot at Junior dos Santos at UFC 160. Dana White confirmed the fight to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com Saturday morning. The original co-main event for UFC 160 was scheduled to be Al…
The rallying can now cease for Mark Hunt, as he will indeed get his shot at Junior dos Santos at UFC 160.
The original co-main event for UFC 160 was scheduled to be Alistair Overeem vs. Dos Santos, but Overeem had to drop out of the bout due to injury. Hunt immediately threw his name out there as a potential replacement.
White tweeted to fans who were asking about the possibility of Hunt vs. Dos Santos that it was unlikely. White claimed the company was seeking a summer date for the originally scheduled bout between Overeem and Dos Santos. It seemed like the hope for Hunt’s biggest fight to date was dead.
Then a late-night tweet on Thursday cracked the door open to shine a glimmer of hope back on this exciting fight.
Dos Santos will indeed fight the former K-1 world champion at UFC 160.
Hunt has had a hell of a ride to get this marquee bout.
From 2006 to 2010 Hunt suffered six straight losses. Five of those six losses came by submission. Now, Hunt is riding a four-fight win streak, with three KO/TKO finishes, into the Octagon on May 25 to battle the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the official UFC rankings.
Hunt’s most recent TKO win (over Stefan Struve) moved him to No. 9 in the rankings.
Dos Santos is coming off his first UFC loss. At UFC 155 he dropped the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Cain Velasquez by unanimous decision.
The winner of Hunt vs. Dos Santos will have the best claim to the next title shot against the winner of Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. That UFC Heavyweight Championship tilt is the main event of UFC 160.
Hunt vs. Dos Santos looks like heavyweight fireworks on paper and will serve as the perfect lead-in to the main event of the evening. The top of the card will almost surely give us two exciting contests and determine the next heavyweight title matchup.
UFC 160 takes place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on pay-per-view.
After last May’s massacre, no one thought Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva would be back in the cage so soon against Cain Velasquez—this time fighting for the UFC heavyweight crown. However, that is exactly what has happened after the Brazilian won his n…
After last May’s massacre, no one thought Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva would be back in the cage so soon against Cain Velasquez—this time fighting for the UFC heavyweight crown.
However, that is exactly what has happened after the Brazilian won his next two matches unexpectedly, both by TKO, to become the No. 1 contender once again.
The pair are set to meet at UFC 160 in Las Vegas, almost a year after their first bloody encounter. Considering the brutal way in which Velasquez ran over Junior dos Santos only months ago to wrest back his belt, few give Bigfoot any chance in the second encounter.
However, as an elite MMA fighter, Silva could pull off the upset—as long as he makes these five changes to his game.
Following the disappointing news Wednesday that Alistair Overeem would be pulling out of a pivotal heavyweight matchup with Junior dos Santos at UFC 160, many fans hoped they’d see JDS fight Mark Hunt instead. The fight made a lot of sense given “…
Following the disappointing news Wednesday that Alistair Overeem would be pulling out of a pivotal heavyweight matchup with Junior dos Santos at UFC 160, many fans hoped they’d see JDS fight Mark Hunt instead.
The fight made a lot of sense given “The Reem’s” slightly torn quad muscle and Hunt’s four-fight winning streak, especially considering “The Super Samoan’s” highlight-reel knockout of Stefan Struve last week.
However, when UFC president Dana White addressed a disgruntled fan on Twitter, he revealed the heavy-handed fan favorite actually turned down a potential slugfest with the former UFC heavyweight champ.
@anakinskyboogie hey dummy Mark Hunt turned down the fight with JDS as of last night so STFU when u don’t know what ur talkin about.
This news is particularly shocking, as Wednesday night, Hunt told MMA Fighting he’d be happy to fight “Cigano” if given the opportunity. “If I get the call for the fight, I’m there, of course, and the fans are crazy for it, so it ‘s good…Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I’m not injured. I’m always down for a battle…I was born down. You know this.”
Following his UFC on FUEL 8 victory over Struve, Hunt is ranked No. 9 on the UFC’s official rankings.
Despite recently losing his belt to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in December, dos Santos is currently ranked No. 1.
White later clarified that he still plans on giving Hunt a Top 10 opponent next:
@nickfury16 @markhunt1974 with his win last week he broke into the top 10. He will get a top 10 fight but as of last nite he turned down JDS
Could there have been some sort of miscommunication between White and Hunt, or was the PRIDE veteran truly all talk when it came to a match up with dos Santos?
For now, Hunt’s legion of rabid fans will have to wait at least one more fight before he steps into the cage with someone from the very upper echelon of the division. Any suggestions on who he should bang with next?
Former K-1 Grand Prix champion and Strikeforce heavyweight king Alistair Overeem will have to wait until at least the summer before he attempts to get back into title contention in the UFC. Overeem was expected to take on former UFC heavyweight champio…
Former K-1 Grand Prix champion and Strikeforce heavyweight king Alistair Overeem will have to wait until at least the summer before he attempts to get back into title contention in the UFC.
Overeem was expected to take on former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in a pivotal heavyweight showdown at UFC 160. Unfortunately, as injuries tend to happen in MMA, Overeem wasn’t able to make it through his entire training camp and now has to sit on the sidelines for the next few weeks.
The nature of the injury was not revealed right away, but on Thursday, Overeem took to Twitter to reveal the ailment that will keep him out of UFC 160 in May.
Now, a partial tear in the quadriceps muscle can be quite painful, but doesn’t typically require surgery. According to Ortho Info online, most small tears will be treated with immobilization of the leg and a three- to six-week recovery time.
UFC president Dana White said on Thursday that Overeem will still likely face dos Santos in the summer, so the diagnosis for the muscle tear seems right on the money for when he would be able to return this year.
The injury is just the latest rough spot for Overeem over the past two years.
The Dutch fighter started his UFC career with a huge win over Brock Lesnar at the tail end of 2011, but was forced to sit out all of 2012 after a random drug test done in Nevada revealed elevated testosterone levels in his system.
Overeem was then yanked from his fight at that time (also against dos Santos) and forced to sit out for nine months as punishment handed down from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Upon his return to action, “The Demolition Man” was one fight away from another potential shot at the UFC heavyweight title, but that was derailed in February when he lost to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156.
This latest news pushes Overeem back once again, but if all goes to plan, fight fans will eventually be able to see him meet dos Santos in the Octagon.
After days of rallying, it looks like Mark Hunt will finally get his wish at