Issue 142
June 2016
Mark Hunt seals another win with a trademark walk-away KO
When Mark Hunt fights, all but the most curmudgeonly MMA fans are hoping for one thing: his trademark walk-off KO. When he entered the Octagon against Frank Mir in Brisbane, expectations were especially high for him to serve up another casual concussion cocktail. The former UFC heavyweight champion was never known for a sturdy chin and is not as quick as he was, so his head was the perfect target to receive a dynamite right hand from one of the sport’s elite strikers.
That’s exactly what the ‘Super Samoan’ was looking for and he got close throughout round one. He put his jab out there to look for a reaction and set his opponent up to take a fall.
When the left arm extended, Mir’s head moved down to his right. It looked like it was in the perfect position to eat a monstrous uppercut, but Hunt didn’t want to force it. Instead, he came over the top with an equalizing overhand right to put the Las Vegas native down.
There was no need for follow-up shots. After 68 pro fights Hunt knows when he’s hit the bullseye: “A perfect KO has more to do with timing and precision. Power’s good, but there’s no point in getting the power if it’s gone everywhere else. You can feel it if you got someone really good. I don’t know how – it just happens. When you get them good there’s no coming back.
“There’s a plan working out in my head. I’m not just a crazy guy trying to knock anybody out, but I can knock out anyone in the world.”
He adds: “It was a good way to say thank you to all those people who came and supported me and helped me for camp.” It was probably a present Frank Mir wasn’t too grateful to receive.
Feeling out
“I was just trying to see how he was moving around and plan it a bit.”
Switch it up
“I was going to shoot an uppercut through there but it was a bit slower, so I thought I’d catch him with a straight right.”
Clean break
“He was still in the dark lands when I saw him. He wasn’t there, he was somewhere else, he was blacked out – so I just left it.”
Trademarked
Mark Hunt has six UFC stoppages. Four have been walk-away KOs.
