UFC Quick Quote: Mark Hunt is a better striker than Cheick Kongo

"I know (of) Cheick Kongo -- he's alright, he's not a bad fighter ... As a striker I'm better than him, of course. That's the way I look at it. That's (attempting takedowns) what he's gonna be doing. Once he realizes he can't dance around or play around with me he's going to be trying to take me down like the rest of them."

Samoan striker Mark Hunt (via UFC.com), a PRIDE FC mainstay from back in the day, is expected to sling leather against formidable French force, Cheick Kongo, in a heavyweight scrap set for the promotion's return to the "Land of the Rising Sun" at UFC 144 this Saturday night (Feb. 25, 2012) from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. That's assuming the Parisian will stand and bang against the former K-1 champ, who's riding back-to-back wins after tapping to Sean McCorkle in his Octagon debut back in late 2010. While Kongo is hardly a jiu-jitsu expert, Hunt's been notoriously deficient when the fights goes south. Anyone expecting knockout of the night? Or three rounds of mug and slug?