Mark Hunt to Fight Down Under
Posted by M. C. Castaneda (Staff Writer)Jan 2
Picture courtesy of UFC.com
Former PRIDE Heavyweight Mark Hunt (5-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has a scheduled bout in February at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia. As first reported on mmaweekly.com, and later confirmed by the UFC official website, the New Zealand native will battle Chris “The Crowbar” Tuchscherer (21-3, 1 NC MMA, 1-2 UFC) on the production’s preliminary portion of the fight card.
Hunt is a streaky fighter. He has run into a bit of hard luck in his past few fights having dropped 6 fights in a row. However, most of those losses are to some of the best MMA fighters in the world including the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett. Conversely, prior to his string of six losses, Hunt was on a five fight win streak.
In preparation for his UFC debut this past September, Hunt moved his camp to Coconut Creek, Florida and started training with the world-renowned American Top Team. Many saw the move to ATT as a positive change and that the sparring partners Hunt would work with would tighten up his below average ground game. Of Hunt’s six losses, five have come via some type of shoulder lock or arm bar. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu star power that resides at ATT should be able to assist Hunt with his arm and shoulder preservation. Although that was not the case for Hunt’s UFC debut, as he again fell victim to an arm bar this time at the hands of Sean McCorkle.
While Hunt has been the subject of a lot of criticism, and at times been asked to retire by numerous keyboard warriors and chat room experts, there is no denying that Hunt has fought some of the best fighters in the world. Had Hunt won just half of the six losses he has suffered, his name would be in the conversation for one of the best in MMA. His resume of opponents is more impressive than most of the current UFC Heavyweights.
Both Hunt and Tuchscherer are entering the cage coming off of losses. Hunt should have the crowd in his corner and may have a bit of a home cage advantage since they are fighting so close to New Zealand. Fans should expect both of these heavy hitters to throw caution to the wind and put on a great show as the loser may very well find himself clipped from the UFC Heavy weight roster.
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