Mark Hunt, New Zealand's granite-chinned goliath, is back from an 18-month hiatus following the demise of PRIDE FC to face current super-heavyweight champion Semmy Schilt at the K-1 World Grand Prix at the Yokohama Arena on April 13.
Hunt will only compete once for K-1 before returning to mixed martial arts on May 8 under the new DREAM promotion.
After winning the K-1 World Grand Prix by knocking out heavily-favored Jerome LeBanner in 2001, Hunt eventually transitioned to the world of mixed martial arts in 2004, competing for PRIDE FC and finishing with a record of 5-3.
His debut loss may not have been the start he was looking for, but he quickly erased any first impressions by winning his next five fights, including upset victories over Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.
His weakness on the ground was eventually exposed by submission masters Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko - but not before Hunt nearly submitted the wily Russian with a kimura of his own.
The addition of Hunt to the DREAM roster is a solid one. While he still needs to work on his ground game, he can stand with anyone - and the guy can take a punch. It will be interesting to see if a victory over Schilt interferes with his timeline for an MMA return.
Either way, it's good to have him back in the mix.
Props: RogueMag.com
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