Ex-UFC Title Contender Mark Hunt Claims He was offered Millions of Dollars to Throw a Fight
Ex-UFC heavyweight title challenger Mark Hunt claims that he was offered millions of dollars to throw a fight in Australia.
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hunt was discussing his highly publicized legal issues with his former employer when he casually revealed that a fight promoter had allegedly offered him a big bag to take a dive.
“I’ve always been one for saying if things aren’t right,” Hunt explained. “…You know, I was offered three or four million dollars to take a dive in a fight here in Australia. I said, ‘Are you serious?!’ I said ‘No’ because that’s just not me… although I could have done with the money… That’s just not my character, it’s not me. I’d rather just go out with my shield and lose or die. It’s not what I’m about.”
During his eight-year run with the UFC, Hunt featured on seven cards held in The Land Down Under. Since parting ways with the promotion, ‘The Super Samoan’ has competed in two boxing matches in Australia, the first coming against Paul Gallen in December 2020. Hunt won the six-round bout via decision. He followed that up with a fourth-round TKO upset against Sonny Bill Williams.
Mark Hunt Plans to Make BKFC Debut in 2024
Mark Hunt plans to stay active in 2024, revealing that he is currently in talks with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
“I’m kind of keen on doing some bare-knuckle,” Hunt said. “I have been talking to the [BKFC] for a while ago, but we just didn’t lock down a deal. I’m keen on doing some bare-knuckle, I had a lot of messages with the champ, [Mick] Terrill, maybe we can throw our hands together somewhere.”
Hunt added that he has been in contact with BKFC founder Dave Feldman with hopes of putting a fight together for the summer.
“Dave has actually messaged me about – we’ve been speaking about a fight,” Hunt said. “Maybe in June we can sort something out, I’ll be ready to throw hands, and hopefully, I thought I’d take that [heavyweight] title in three fights fights, well, take it in one.”
