Mark Hunt on the UFC title: ‘There’s no prestige in that title. There’s no money in that title’

[CerebralKnievel]

He's just mad he's too much of a bum to even get close to winning a title

Spoken like a classic internet troll.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

I mean yeah it's not boxing money but I don't think there's any current UFC champs who are struggling financially. During a pandemic when so many people are out of work and can't pay mortgages or rent, maybe he should shut the fuck up about his pay when he made $500k per fight?

 

[Alphafail]

He's right imo.

 

[Alphafail]

The level of disrespect Hunt gets lately is shocking. Dudes been nothing but a straight up warrior his whole career, never took easy fights, always fought to entertain win or lose, had an iron jaw until his later years and provided some of the sweetest walk away KOs of all time.

He's also absolutely right about what he's saying, I'd take Marks opinion over the UFCs anyway of the week.

It's always like that as fighters retire and speak up, no matter what. Only guys like Chael or Bisping tend to get a pass.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

wah wah wah

 

[sdpdude9]

Mark Hunt made pretty fat paychecks for being a fighter with a losing record to be fair.

 

[Hitman]

Hunt is the definition of WARIOR ! He took everybody, and everywhere, without PED !

 

[kflo]

Factually incorrect. Lesnar was granted a special waiver for his fight versus Hunt, so wasn't tested beforehand and then failed the lone pre-fight test. So, essentially, they knew he would fail and put him in anyway in order to generate interest.

that's not accurate either. lesnar entered the testing pool on june 4th for his july 9th fight. he was tested 8 times by usada and had 2 positives (one was his in-competition test the day of the fight).

 

[JoshR86]

vada is hired by the commission to do the work of the commission. usada is delegated to oversee the testing and resolution by the commissions. their roles are different. their powers are inherently different. i do believe when usada is testing on behalf of the commission they provide results to the commission for the commissions that have jurisdiction and request it (not the out of competition testing).



usada has the authority. it's not up to the promotion. usada can and has given provisional suspensions before final verdict.



again, every actual sanction is disclosed. so if there is a violation that leads to a sanction, they can't hide it. the details are made public.

i know you are not going to change your mind.....

here

https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-b...usada-vada-and-the-state-athletic-commissions

USADA has a history of hiding positives.

Which is why VADA has/had a 60x more failure rate in their tests, even though they send their samples to the same WADA testing facilities...

 

[DespicablePeep]

800K for fight and he is just mad not winning the title losing to guys on PEDs. I think its a comfortable excuse for his defeats, but he should sue UFC for the whole Brock thing. The guy failed the test yet they kept the fight, I think Hunt should be compensated for that.

 

[Kaiokenrye24]

Hunto got paid more than most champions lmfao

 

[eighterumg5]

I love Hunto, but he's one of the few fighters I don't think should gripe about pay individually, he was always paid pretty well AFAIK.

What if he's fighting for the guys that don't get paid shit? I think Hunt is trying to get things better for all the fighters and not just him. I'd like to think that anyway

 

[sb413197]

Things weren’t always bad between Hunt and the UFC. There’s a well-known story about how when Zuffa acquired Pride FC, they offered to buy Hunt out of his contract instead of offer him any fights. Hunt refused, wanting the fights he was owed, and he then went on the best run of his MMA career, culminating in an interim heavyweight title shot against Fabricio Werdum. But at this point, Hunt says it’s hard to look back fondly on his time with the organization, given all the bitterness that has ensued.

This always struck me as really scummy by the UFC. Hunt should have been bought out and then gotten the opportunity to sign and fight under a new contract - instead they basically had him fighting for free. I guess that was Hunt's decision but it just seems really slimy.

 

[cade187]

Hunt fights in Pride and K1, and tries the sue the UFC because of steroids.....

 

[kflo]

here

https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-b...usada-vada-and-the-state-athletic-commissions

USADA has a history of hiding positives.

Which is why VADA has/had a 60x more failure rate in their tests, even though they send their samples to the same WADA testing facilities...

vada doesn't publish statistics. usada and wada do.

and usada has responded to hauser's inaccuracies before:
https://www.usada.org/statement/usada-statement-inaccurate-news-reports-pro-boxing/

usada testing of boxing is nothing like it is for the ufc or other sports. it's voluntary and does not include random year-round testing.

and note the stats he presents are for 64 fights, total, over 9.5 years. many of them repeat boxers. 10 of the 64 fights i believe are floyd fights.

 

[Cooliox]

Mark Hunt used to be one of the most beloved fighters, ever


Seriously, everyone loved Mark Hunt.



But for some reason, after the Lesnar loss, he went full batshit crazy and has yet to hit the brakes.

I guess some people can't stop or won't stop till they hit a brick wall.

 

[DS7]

In Japan it was accepted there was no testing so he wouldn't have a case to complain about steroid use there. In the UFC he probably had to take 20 blood/piss tests a year from USADA and then got put against known roiders. Not the same situation at all

Hunt also said before the Lesnar fight that he didn't care if Lesnar was roided. Dude got butthurt because he got dominated by a part time fighter.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

I don’t blame Hunt for being bitter, but I don’t think it’s good for his image or his health.

He was put up against 3 cheats in a row. That would make anyone lose confidence in the system and the sport. It just seems like he hasn’t moved on with his life. Kind of sad for someone who was supremely recognized for his toughness and warrior mentality.

 

[fzoid4454]

Mark Hunt is a legend in combat sports. A K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Hunt is also one of only two men to have competed for both a UFC and Pride heavyweight title. But over the last few years, Hunt has become as known for his battle outside of the cage as for his fights inside it. Following his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, a fight which was later revealed Lesnar tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, Hunt waged war with the UFC, suing the promotion, Lesnar, and Dana White, alleging a variety of misconduct, including fraud, breach of contract, and racketeering. Ultimately, Hunt’s lawsuit was dismissed by the district court of Nevada but last month, Hunt’s legal team appealed the dismissal and now Hunt is in a holding pattern, waiting for a final decision to continue forward with his suit.


“My personal lawsuit is about the steroids and making it an even playing field,” Hunt told Submission Radio. “I never got a fair go in this company. They keep getting these cheaters and putting them before health, money before health, people and fighters’ health. And that got to a stage where I just had enough of it and I wasn’t getting anywhere. And this will go to trial, which is where I want to go with this lawsuit. And then we’ll see what actually happens, we’ll see what else they’re hiding.”

The last few years of his UFC career, Hunt became one of the most vocal opponents of PEDs in MMA and particularly of the UFC’s handling of them. He also became highly critical of the UFC’s pay structure, feeling that the UFC does not adequately compensate their fighters. And Hunt isn’t alone. A number of fighters have spoken out against the UFC’s compensation this year, and Hunt says there’s good reason for that: because it’s “garbage.”

“There’s no prestige in that title, in the UFC title. There’s no money in that title. And that’s not just me telling you, you can see from the evidence that everyone’s doing,” Hunt said. “Why would you want to be a UFC fighter? Why would you want to be the heavyweight champion of the UFC? Why would you want to be the champion of these things when they’re just f*ckin’ paying them 16 percent? It’s garbage. It’s honestly garbage. When people say to me about the UFC product, I just sit there I cringe and I laugh. I just go, wow, you’re the world champion of wanting to ask for more money (laughs).

“Because there’s no money. You look at the boxing side, when you make it there, you make it there. When you make it to Anthony Joshua status, Joseph Parker, Tyron Fury, you make it. One fight is $100 million, $50 million. I mean, Conor made that money when he transcended to boxing. So, what’s the point of being a UFC fighter?”

Things weren’t always bad between Hunt and the UFC. There’s a well-known story about how when Zuffa acquired Pride FC, they offered to buy Hunt out of his contract instead of offer him any fights. Hunt refused, wanting the fights he was owed, and he then went on the best run of his MMA career, culminating in an interim heavyweight title shot against Fabricio Werdum. But at this point, Hunt says it’s hard to look back fondly on his time with the organization, given all the bitterness that has ensued.

“Yeah, it’s gone real negative because the bad outweigh the good memories,” Hunt said. “At the end of the day, I ended up fighting against them and not the actual competitors. Not fighting for the world title, fighting to make it even, and realizing this isn’t a fair fight here and I’m never gonna get anywhere unless I put up a lawsuit against these guys. It just ended up being bitter. All the good memories were drowned out by the bad.”


Fortunately for Hunt, that part of his career is now over. Hunt left the UFC in 2018 and has not competed since. That will change next month though when Hunt faces former professional rugby player turned professional boxer Paul Gallen in a boxing match on Dec. 16 in Sydney, Australia. For Hunt, it’s an opportunity to clear the air as he nears retirement from combat sports.

“I’m a fighter at heart,” Hunt concluded. “I wanted to finish my career happy instead of being so bitter at fighting and fighting in general. Especially how they run things. I mean, yeah it was a good offer [to fight Paul Gallen]. Things have worked out well, we made a good deal. And it will be one of the biggest events in fighting on this card here in my home town, which I think is awesome. So, what better way than to finish it off with a couple of boxing fights and then move on, I think.

“I want to have six more fights, to be honest, and finish my career happy.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

He may have a lot of legitimate points about how Dana has kind of cheapened the sports legitimacy of those titles by going after the WWE crowd, but this really does sound like what anyone who never got there says - "it's no big deal, I didn't want it anyway." He wanted those shots and opportunities enough that he filed lawsuits about getting screwed over by the UFC.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

that's not accurate either. lesnar entered the testing pool on june 4th for his july 9th fight. he was tested 8 times by usada and had 2 positives (one was his in-competition test the day of the fight).

Actually not incorrect at all. That's what I said. Ah, wow - a whole 5 days of testing, and he failed 2 out of 8 tests. Ergo, he was using or had substances in his body for every test. Stop attempting to split hairs.