Despite holding career knockouts over Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, Antonio Silva, and Stefan Struve, 42-year-old mixed martial arts (MMA) powerhouse Mark Hunt is sort of being overlooked entering his highly-anticipated showdown with Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 on July 9.
Lesnar, who has compiled a 5-3 record in his short time as a professional fighter, will be making his return to the Octagon for the first time since losing to Alistair Overeem back in 2011. That's a wide gap to cover, especially against a one-punch finisher like "Super Samoan."
Still, Hunt feels like he's flying under the radar entering his mid-summer clash with the WWE star. While he has a really good chance of winning, Hunt understands that Lesnar is going to be the main attraction.
"That's probably the reason why people are watching, it's Brock, Brock, Brock, Brock," said Hunt during a recent interview on Inside MMA (shown above). "That's cool by me. I'm looking forward to the fight and to just be fighting Brock. He's a huge name in sports, a lot of people are probably going to watch this fight because he's on the card. It's good for my stock as well. It's great."
It has been reported that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will grant Lesnar an exemption considering he's making such a quick turnaround to fight at UFC 200. But like what Inside MMA co-host Josh Barnett said, Hunt should put that stuff aside and simply try to win the fight.
"I don't really care about whatever is happening with the testing, I'm looking at fighting and winning the fight," added Hunt. "I mean it does nothing for my rankings, but it does everything for my profile, of course, because he's such a big name."
Hunt added that he hasn't been training with any special wrestlers at Xtreme Couture in preparation for Lesnar, stating that he doesn't think the WWE star can get him to the ground. And if Lesnar does, Hunt said he can get back to his feet.
UFC 200 will be headlined by a Light Heavyweight title rematch between champion Daniel Cormier and former king Jon Jones.
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