It’s Not Over: Mark Hunt To Return To Training In June
UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt has proved time and time again that he is one of he toughest fighters to ever compete in MMA. What happened last week at UFC Fight Night 65 went beyond that though, it was difficult to watch and at times seemed rather unnecessary.
Stipe Mioicic put a record-breaking beating of a lifetime on ‘The Super Samoan’, finishing the fight in the fifth round by way of a very delayed TKO. Hunt absorbed 361 strikes in total, posting pictures of his badly swollen face after the fact.
Talking with 3 News, the ever level-headed Hunt says it was just another day at the office:
“It was a hard night in the office, but I took the beating like a man, I got caught fighting with my energy levels down and you can’t make this mistake at the top level.”
“There is nothing wrong with me, I just look bad. The UFC looks after you really well, checking you up, but I’m good. It’s not an easy way to make a living, it was a hard night at the office, but I accept my outcome as a fighter.”
Many fans watching the action were puzzled as to why the referee officiating didn’t call the action off earlier. In retrospect, Hunt had many opportunities to call it quits, deciding not to, still the ref probably could have called it a lot earlier.
‘The Super Samoan’ has become the subject of retirement talk since losing so brutally to Miocic, although he doesn’t sound that interested in calling it quits yet:
“I got beat down by Stipe, and it will take a couple of weeks before the bruising goes down and I’ll be back to normal again. I’ll be back to training in about three weeks,”
There you have it, Mark Hunt will be fighting again, but where does he go in terms of his next fight? If he plans on a retirement in the next year, it would be pretty good to see him fight some mid-level fighters as opposed to the elite of the division.
Even after such an ungodly beatdown, ‘The Super Samoan’ is already looking to get back in training; that says it all. Let’s hope he has some more energy next time out, because I’m not sure anyone wants to see him get pasted like that again.