Issue 076
June 2011
Kickboxing veteran Mark Hunt calls out the biggest men on the planet. If they’re not available someone get King Kong
NEED TO KNOW
NAME MARK HUNT
AGE 36
STARTED 1995
TEAM ATT
DIVISION HEAVYWEIGHT
STYLE KICKBOXING
RECORD 6-7-2
Fighters love to fight. Mark Hunt is no exception. “I’m all about the rumble, man,” he says, a glint in his eye and a fist clenched tight. “If the rumble is on, I’m there 100%.”
Winners love to win. Despite a recent torrid run of six straight defeats, Hunt is also one of them.
“I’ve been on terrible form recently and the amount of losses I had in a row was ridiculous,” sighs the soft-spoken and soft-edged Samoan. “I was just losing to anybody and everybody and couldn’t buy a win from anywhere. I hated that losing streak.”
Heavyweight Hunt is now 35 years of age and is as wide as he is hungry. On February 27th his four-and-a-half-year search for a mixed martial arts victory ended with a casually concussive right uppercut to the jaw of American Chris Tuchscherer. It was a special punch for a special occasion. Hunt, born in New Zealand of Samoan descent, but living and fighting out of Australia, was competing at home – well, one of three – for the first time in over a decade.
“I didn’t feel any added pressure despite the run of results, mainly because I was fighting at home,” says Hunt, who iced Tuchscherer in the second round at UFC 127. “Competing in Australia felt really comfortable for me and it was great to make a return.
“I started as a K-1 fighter in Australia 12 years ago and it’s crazy to think I haven’t fought much there since. The fans were really welcoming to me in Sydney and I’m thankful for that. I didn’t expect many of them to remember who I was and thought they might have forgotten where I’d started out. Turns out they’ve got good memories.”
Take one look at the endearingly huggable Hunt and it’s hard to forget the face. Similarly, cop one wild Hunt swing to the jaw, and you’ll do very well to remember the name of its sender. A mallet-fisted 265lb brawler with the substance to match the swagger, Hunt is a former K-1 world champion utilizing sheer bloody-mindedness to counter the perks of the body beautiful.
After all, you don’t need to look like you can fight, when you know you can fight. Upon skewing Tuchscherer’s senses in February, Hunt neglected the chance to grind the American’s already bloodied features into mincemeat and instead embarked on a leisurely stroll around the perimeter of the UFC’s Octagon. Resembling more an inquisitive tourist than a ravenous prizefighter, Hunt’s declaration of dominance was a sign of experience and a man being totally at one with the sights, sounds and sensations of a knockout.
“My striking matches up well with a lot of these UFC heavyweights, but I’m also aware of the fact that mixed martial arts is called mixed martial arts for a reason,” admits Hunt. “I’m no longer in K-1 and my opponents will be looking to do more than just punch and kick. I can’t just rely on my own striking to get the job done anymore. I’ve got to be prepared for everything. If I just wanted to stand and strike with someone, I’d go back and compete solely in K-1. I like the challenges that mixed martial arts presents me with and I won’t stop until I overcome those challenges.”
One glance at Hunt’s 13-bout mixed martial arts record would appear to tell its own story. Of seven career defeats, six have arrived via submission, while four of his six victories have been dished out by knockout blows either from fists or feet.
“When you lose by submission it doesn’t really feel like a fight,” says Hunt. “You go out there, try to fight, try to knockout the other guy, and then it’s all over with a tap. Some of my submission losses have come early into fights as well, and that just feels incredibly anti-climatic. Those ones don’t feel like fights. I barely even broke sweat in them. Most of my fights in K-1 felt a lot more demanding, simply because they went longer and both guys were looking for a conclusive knockout victory. It felt more emphatic when a guy won in K-1.”
Hunt first rose to global prominence in 2001, when he shocked kickboxing aficionados and defeated Jerome LeBanner, Stefan Leko and Francisco Filho en route to winning the K-1 World Grand Prix in Tokyo. A career defined with strikes to the head and body, Hunt could have remained in his combat comfort zone and dedicated the remainder of his fighting life to trying to replicate the success. Instead, he made his mixed martial arts debut in June 2004 and was promptly submitted by Japan’s Hidehiko Yoshida.
“I was constantly on the lookout for other challenges after winning a world title in K-1,” recalls Hunt. “I’d done a little bit of boxing and kickboxing, and mixed martial arts seemed to be the natural progression. It was similar enough to what I’d done in the past to enable a smooth transition, yet was also completely different to what I’d been used to. It was a big challenge and I had a lot to learn.”
No sooner had Hunt found his feet as a fledgling mixed martial artists, than grappler Yoshida took those same feet away from under him and began yanking at his arm.
“It’s impossible to catch up with a guy that has had years of experience and practice in jiu-jitsu or wrestling,” says the New Zealander. “I’m never going to be able to compete with guys in that position, just as they might struggle to match my striking experience. All I can do is educate myself, continue to practice and gradually become more comfortable with areas of the fight that are foreign to me.
“When I’m striking, I don’t even think about what I’m doing. It’s instinctive. When I sense an opening, I go for it and strike. Although once I become as comfortable with my jiu-jitsu, wrestling and escapes, I should be a well-rounded fighter, instead of just a good stand-up fighter, which is what I am right now.”
This ‘good stand-up fighter’ boasts career stats of 6-7 and defeated the likes of Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ and Wanderlei Silva and Dan Bobish in the much-ballyhooed Pride era. Three commendable wins for a self-confessed ‘one-dimensional’ fighter.
“My fight with Dan Bobish in 2004 sticks out in my mind as a real punisher,” adds Hunt with a wide grin. “I got hammered in that one for a while, as Dan was a real wrecking machine at the time. Thankfully, I refused to give up and managed to pull out the win with a kick to
the body.”
Refusing to give up has long been a frequently used descriptive of Hunt’s fighting make-up, along with ‘heavy hands’, ‘granite chin’ and ‘deceptively soft appearance’. After all, while six consecutive defeats would crush the spirits of most mortals, Hunt is still kicking around and now back to winning ways. Besides, losing battles in Japan to the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Gegard Moussasi and Melvin Manhoef is nothing to weep about.
“Nothing fazes me in life, let alone the cage anymore,” says Hunt. “Yeah, I’ve been in with some of the best, but there is a lot of bad stuff going on all around the world right now and we’re all just lucky to be alive. Japan, Australia and New Zealand have been hit hard by natural disasters of late, and it only makes me more thankful for the time I have left on this Earth. None of us know when it is going to end, and you can’t afford to live your life in fear of your time being up.”
In a sport constantly evolving at breakneck speed, it is a testament to Hunt’s character, popularity and will power that he remains relevant and winning in 2011. By all logical rationale, a fighter of Hunt’s ilk should be positively archaic by this stage of the development.
“I’m a lot smarter and wiser compared to the guy that fought in Pride,” he says. “You can’t put a price on experience, either, and even though some of my experiences have been disappointing, it’s true that you grow stronger from every experience you have. I know I’m a much better fighter now than I was in Pride. I used to just go out there and fight with my heart in Japan, but now I’ve added a bit more technique and brains to the brawn.
“Mixed martial arts is experiencing a natural process of evolution, and right now the UFC is the place to be. The UFC is a worldwide phenomenon and has taken mixed martial arts out from the underground. You can’t just turn up, fight your fight and then return home and start smoking cigarettes and stuff anymore. If you do that now, everybody will know about it and you’ll be in trouble.”
The only thing Hunt plans on lighting up in the coming months are heavyweight opponents. Hopefully, big ones.
“I’m proud that I’m still trucking at this stage of my career and that, despite the losses I’ve suffered, am still functioning at a good level,” says Hunt. “I didn’t let those defeats dent my spirits and I’m still trying to get ahead in the UFC. A lot of other people tend to give up after they suffer a setback or disappointment and they only end up regretting it afterwards. I’m just glad I haven’t become one of those guys.
“I believe I’m here for a purpose and I believe that purpose is to battle these top heavyweights. The bigger, the better. I don’t like fighting smaller guys than me or even guys the same size as me. I want to fight King Kong if he’s available.”
Rumble, old man, rumble.
