Mark Hunt Is ‘Going All The Way’ With Potential Lawsuit Against UFC, Brock Lesnar
Fan favorite knockout artist Mark Hunt found himself embroiled in controversy this summer when he understandably spoke out against the UFC’s decision to grant former champ Brock Lesnar a USADA exemption allowing him to face “The Super Samoan” at July’s UFC 200.
At the UFC’s supposedly historic event, the hulking Lesnar used his vaunted wrestling to ground and control Hunt on the canvas, softening him up with a smattering of shots that ultimately would not force the Samoan veteran to subdue.
It was after the fight had taken place it was revealed that Lesnar had failed pre and post-fight drug tests for banned performance-enhancing substances clomiphene and hydroxy-clomiphene, a situation his provisional suspension from the NSAC and potential pending sanctions from USADA could not make up for given the fight had already taken place.
The topic had since disappeared amidst a long list of booming MMA discussion points involving UFC 205, but just because talk has died down about, that doesn’t mean the iron-chinned Hunt is going to give up his journey. Hunt recently spoke to FOX Sports’ Damon Martin about his desire to continue his quest after retaining top lawyer Christina Denning of Higgs, Fletcher, and Mack to help him win justice:
“I’m going all the way. You think this is about money? I’ve turned down two fights already. This is about what’s right. I wanted to put a provision in for the JDS (Junior dos Santos) fight, but they wouldn’t do it. These cheaters need to be punished. I would think that the commission would stand right by me. I don’t understand why they don’t do something about it.
“The contract I sign says no doping but how about enforcing these contracts with harsher penalties. I love fighting, this is my life and I love doing it but it’s really important to do this.”
Hunt then went into solid detail about how the promotion can atone for how he feels they wronged him – both in future bouts and for his brutally one-sided loss to a Lesnar who allegedly had banned substances in his system on fight night:
“A change in all future bout agreements, such that if a competitor’s caught doping then the proceeds from the fight, whether that’s just the purse or if there’s a win bonus or there’s pay-per-view proceeds, whatever compensation the cheating fighter receives, he wants a provision in all future bout agreements for him and he’d like to see it across the board that the compensation be forfeited to the non-cheating party. So that’s the first thing,” Denning explained when speaking to FOX Sports about what Hunt wants to accomplish.
“The second thing would be some sort of compensation with what happened at UFC 200. I can tell you with respect to the whole where he’s coming from and the rationale and purpose behind why he wants to see both those things happening is because right now, the UFC has an anti-doping policy that isn’t being enforced to its maximum potential in order to deter people from getting into the ring. In fact, what’s happening is fighters appear to be taking advantage of the system and doping and either knowing or risking or banking on the fact that they’re not going to get the maximum penalty imposed by the UFC. “
“The Super Samoan offered a stern belief about how he thinks the result at UFC 200 truly should be recorded. In his eyes, a win is not a win if you are endangering your opponent in an already perilous sport while being aided by banned substances:
“In my eyes he didn’t win nothing,” Hunt said about Lesnar. “Anyone who sticks needles in their ass didn’t win nothing. I’ve got a clear conscious when I wake up and look in the mirror everyday. I’m not cheating and pretending to be something I’m not. He’s a fake ass person and a fake ass cheater and that’s all he’ll ever be. Just like Lance Armstrong and the rest of these clowns.
“These guys who are cheating, get them out of the sport. This sport is different, it’s a business of hurting people. I lose an eye or I perish in the Octagon, which could happen, and if he’s doping, the penalty should be a lot harsher.””
Hunt’s counsel Denning put things in perspective with a brief yet succinct explanation of her client’s precarious position, focusing on a lack of compensation for fighters who are found to have faced and lost to opposition who juiced:
“He really wants to get out there and fight. I normally wouldn’t threaten a lawsuit, I would just file it but he really wants to fight. So if he’s forced to file a lawsuit, which he is ready to go but he wants to fight. So he’s in this uncomfortable spot where he’s under contract with the UFC, he’s being offered fights by the UFC, he wants to make a living to support his family in these fights and he files a lawsuit at his age, how long is that going to take? A couple of years? Some of his best years left of fighting.
“We’re being so open about it and talking about it because we’re hoping the UFC will consider putting these types of terms into bout agreements for the competitors. What we’re asking the UFC to do is not unprecedented.
“The guy who gets in the ring with the juicer is the one who should get the compensation and they really should get the win if it’s found that their opponent was doping.
“It’s doing nothing for my client’s career if he keeps fighting opponents who are on steroids and then the results are just thrown out as a wash.”
With his heart essentially on the sleeve, Hunt concluded his telling, emotional interview by emphasizing just what the fighters’ true worth to the UFC is, meaning the rules in place must actually work to serve protect him from any unnecessary and illegal harm in the cage:
“I can’t speak on what other fighters what to do, I can only speak for myself. I’m a fighter inside and out, I’ll fight everywhere. I’m a fighter in every sense of the word. This is just another fight for me. Without us fighters, these companies don’t exist,” Hunt said.
“What I’m trying to do here is make changes to my contract so if something happens, he’s banned for life or there’s no money. It’s pretty simple. It’s good you’re chasing down these cheaters, but how about enforcing it? They’re not doing anything about enforcing these rules for people who cheated. There’s no excuses. That’s rubbish. What kind of lies are these guys pulling here? It’s rubbish.”
