Monday Morning Hangover: Murk Hunt's Cinderella story comes to a disappointing end

Another action-packed weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone, as Bellator 131 (details), WSOF 15 (results) and UFC 180 (recap) all went down this past Saturday night (Nov. 15, 2014).

Of course, the highlight of the weekend was UFC 180, which took place in Mexico City, Mexico, and left plenty of fighters licking their wounds once the dust settled.

Among them was Dennis Bermudez, who saw his seven-fight winning streak go out the window after he tapped to Ricardo Lamas (see it). And Jake Ellenberger, who was also forced to say "uncle" by Kelvin Gastelum and his rear-naked choke (video).

But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed?

Mark Hunt.

Considered one of the best stories in all of combat sports, Hunt looked to tie a ribbon around his current run -- which included five wins in his last seven outings, with four brutal knockout victories over the likes of Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve -- by winning the interim heavyweight title.

Standing in his way was Fabricio Werdum, another man who looked to complete his own comeback story, by capturing his first-ever title after getting the boot from the promotion six years ago.

And though in a perfect world, both men would see their stories have fairy-tale endings, the hurt business is not pre-determined and only one man could walk away a champion. Unfortunately for Hunt, his run -- which began three years ago -- was the one that came to a screeching halt south of the border.

Early on, Hunt seemed to find success with his striking, flooring "Vai Cavalo" in the opening frame. Unlike Fedor Emelianenko, though, Mark didn't dive in for the kill, choosing to let Fabricio back to his feet.

Smart move.

Continuing his striking assault, Hunt looked very much in control throughout the first seven minutes of action and in the blink of an eye, Werdum ended the bout with a thunderous knee right to the kisser that was enough to put "Super Samoan" on his back and down for the count a few strikes later (video).

As devastating as the loss was for Hunt, he deserves all the credit in the world for taking such a high-profile fight on only three-weeks notice after Cain Velasquez was forced to withdraw.

And despite what Dana White tried to tell us all week long, just because Hunt had a fight two months ago, did not mean that his heavyweight body was ready to drop so much weight and be equipped to take part in a five-round fight in such a short period of time.

Of course, Hunt took the high road and never offered up any excuses, though one couldn't help but think "Super Samoan" had other pressing issues on his mind heading into his title fight, as evidenced by this conversation.

The good news is, Hunt is determined to keep going and has no plans to give up his championship dreams.

As well he should; because the man who wasn't even supposed to be fighting on the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) stage of them all, came close to doing the unthinkable.