Face value suggests Mark Hunt doesn’t need to be here.
The cult figure with peroxide blonde hair and a neck tattoo, who made millions fighting for world titles and delivering iconic walk-off knockouts inside sold-out stadiums, is 48 years old.
Hunt tipped the scales at 157 kilograms when the offer came through to face Sonny Bill Williams at Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre on November 5. So why take the fight?
“I’m not going to fight for a world title, but I have to pay for these lawsuits,” Hunt told the Herald. “I want to change contact sport forever.”
In 2017, Hunt sued the UFC and parent company Zuffa LLC amid revelations Brock Lesnar – his UFC 200 opponent – tested positive for banned substances following their bout in July 2016. A unanimous decision win for Lesnar was overturned to a no-contest, and Hunt accused the promotion of covering up the results of Lesnar’s drug tests.
The lawsuit alleged a conspiracy to commit a crime related to racketeering, fraud, battery, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and negligence. The allegations were initially dismissed in February 2019, but the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of fraud and battery. Hunt is bound for the US after his bout with Williams to continue an even bigger fight.
Mark Hunt will face Sonny Bill Williams in a heavyweight boxing showdown.Credit:Rhett Wyman
“I want to go to trial. The UFC lawyers have asked what I would settle this for, and to be honest with you, I don’t want to settle,” Hunt said.
“I see it as a criminal offence because I see it as premeditated murder. If that guy had killed me, should he take a fine and a year off? No, he should go straight to f—ing jail. Who pays for his family and his kids when that fighter is dead? That’s basically what I’m trying to do with this lawsuit. The more I thought about it, I thought ‘You’re actually fighting for a lot more than that’.
“When these guys are cheating in [mixed martial arts], it’s premeditated murder. Forget Lance Armstrong, he was riding a bike. He cheated people financially for years, he bullshitted to them about not gearing when he was riding that bicycle. When you’re using steroids in MMA, you could kill someone.
“I’m doing it to make sure no one dies in the future. Is it going to take someone to die to make a change?”
So Hunt’s reasoning for taking a fight against Williams, a dual-international in another sporting life who holds a 9-0 record as a professional boxer, is two-pronged. There is the money it will give him to help pay for a lawsuit, having been outspoken about UFC fighters not earning enough money throughout his career, and the fuel it gave him to put down the cheesecake and get off the couch.
Hunt has trimmed down to 129 kilograms before his first fight since dropping a six-round boxing bout to Paul Gallen in December 2016, the same night Tim Tszyu orchestrated a 114-second demolition of Kiwi Bowyn Morgan in Sydney’s west.
“I expect Sonny to be the best he can be. He’s probably got other aspirations like going on to be the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, that’s the only reason he would be taking a fight with someone like me,” Hunt said.
This is the man who fought for titles in the UFC and PRIDE, who always had fight fans on the edges of their seats on his way to scores of knockout bonuses.
“I’ve been doing this for a lot longer. I’ve fought some of the best fighters in the world, and although I’ve not had a boxing win ever, when I had a fight with Paul I still felt like I rung his bell and I had a lot of fun with it. That was the most fun I’d had since I left the UFC,” Hunt said.
“Hopefully I can get a win in this boxing fight, so I would have a win in boxing, kickboxing, K-1 and MMA, and finish my career on a high. I’ll always feel like I’m the best fighter in the world until I hang up the gloves.”
Watch SBW v Hunt live & exclusive on Stan Event event on Saturday 5 November. New customers can sign up to a Stan free trial and can purchase the Pay-Per-View at stan.com.au/event.
