Nothing new here: Mark Hunt faces long odds against JDS
The fight that everyone wants to see is booked for UFC 160 this May, and not surprisingly, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has opened as a large favorite over Mark Hunt.
An early 4.3-to-1 favorite over The Super Samoan, dos Santos looks to right his ship and get back into another title shot. Until his one-sided loss to Cain Velasquez last December at UFC 155, dos Santos remained undefeated in the octagon and looked poised for a long reign at the top.
Hunt of course comes in hot off of four straight wins in the UFC, last seen knocking out Stefan Struve with a jaw-breaking left hand. When Alistair Overeem was forced out of his bout with dos Santos with a quad injury, Hunt was the obvious and logical choice to replace the Dutch striker.
Hunt first said he was ‘born down,’ but then Dana White confirmed that he had turned the bout down initially. The two got together and worked out the kinks, and the heavyweight clash was on. Hunt has a huge following who want to see the Pride and K-1 veteran reach the pinnacle of MMA.
However, the road runs through dos Santos, who has some of, if not the, best boxing in all of MMA. He has looked nigh unstoppable save for the loss to Velasquez, and there’s no doubt that a trilogy fight with the current champ is burning within his mind. JDS cited an ugly divorce as the reason he lost, but no excuses can be made now.
This is a pivotal bout in the heavyweight division that will likely decide the next title contender. Velasquez is set to face off with Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva on the same card May 25th, so there’s a possibility we might see Hunt vs. Bigfoot somewhere down the road. But that’s a very miniscule possibility. Dos Santos will be tough to knock out, and the odds obviously reflect that.
Either way you look at it, UFC 160 is a top-heavy card with the potential for some powerful battles. Will Mark Hunt continue to silence the critics against all odds?
