Mark Hunt: I'll make Brock Lesnar understand 'he should have stayed retired'
A few weeks ago, Mark Hunt got the call to stay ready for UFC 200, though he had no idea who he was supposed to face at the time.
Thanks to the secrecy surrounding the fight, Hunt imagined it had to be somebody with a sizable name in the industry. But nowhere in the back of his mind did he imagine that the person he'd be fighting on July 9 was Brock Lesnar.
"I think everybody found out at the same time I did," Hunt told FOX Sports Monday night.
"I wasn't training, I was actually just eating. I'm pretty easy going about it, I wasn't doing any hardcore training. I was just hanging out with the kids. Then I found out who it was and I thought that was pretty cool. I had my ideas it might have been someone big. I thought it might have been Fedor (Emelianenko) or anybody but someone like this. I think Brock's a huge name. But I'm down to battle anybody."
New Zealander Hunt was familiar with Lesnar's previous run in the UFC and gives the current WWE superstar credit for having the gumption to make another run at the fight game.
"He's done amazing things. He came in the UFC and in three fights he became champion. How could anyone do that? That's amazing. It's pretty crazy. He's a real competitor but then he got sick and he had to leave. That's just the way it is. But I thought he was retired," Hunt said.
Of course, Hunt doesn't believe Lesnar will enjoy the results.
"Coming back after five years? I don't know. He says he's got an itch to scratch — well, I've got the scratcher for him. If you want to get an itch scratched in this sport, I've got it for you. In the end, I feel he should have just stayed retired but if you want to get into a real fight, I can give you an opponent."
Following back-to-back knockouts in his last two fights, Hunt asked the UFC for a top-five opponent. But when they gave him Lesnar instead, he certainly wasn't complaining.
Hunt's fight against Lesnar will be the co-main event at UFC 200, which is expected to be one of the biggest cards of the year. Hunt will certainly reap the rewards of facing arguably the biggest draw in the history of the sport.
And while Hunt just doesn't like Lesnar's chances of making a successful return, he'll happily welcome him back.
"I'm happy that Dana White and the UFC gave me this opportunity. It doesn't move me up the rankings, but I like the play punch face all the time anyway," Hunt said. "Especially against such a big name like Brock Lesnar."
Hunt knows Lesnar's game plan going into UFC 200 will likely revolve around one thing: the takedown.
Lesnar is a former NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion, and throughout his previous run in the UFC, his grappling helped him become a dominant force in the division and led him to a title.
Thanks to Hunt's heavy-handed, one punch knockout style, the New Zealand native is fairly confident he's not going to have to wait long for Lesnar to come plowing forward in an attempt to take the fight to the mat.
Hunt not only expects that strategy from Lesnar, he welcomes it. He also doesn't believe the former UFC champion will last past the five-minute mark in the first round.
"I don't think he's going to make it out of the first round to be honest. If he comes charging — please come charging — I've got the scratcher for you in the first round," Hunt said.
"That's the way things are," Hunt continued. "I've partied with the best of them. I don't care how good a wrestler you are. As soon as I punch you on the lips, you're going to go out like everyone else. Unless you've got kind of magical wrestling style it might be different, but I don't think he has that. That's now how I see this fight going."
Hunt appreciates Lesnar's desire to wash the bad taste of his previous run in the UFC out of his mouth, especially after diverticulitis robbed him of two years of his career. Lesnar wasn't healthy throughout his previous UFC stint, and he could never quite settle into retirement after calling it a career in 2011.
So Lesnar will return at UFC 200 with a goal to get a win while fighting at full health. But Hunt plans to send him packing back to WWE with a knockout loss and a not-so-subtle reminder that he probably shouldn't try to fight again.
"I understand he's a real competitor and that's good. In the end for me, it's just going to be one little hit and then it's over. See you later," Hunt said. "Go back to doing whatever you're going to do. He's got an itch to scratch and I understand that cause I'm the same way myself. He doesn't want to have these sort of regrets and that's fine.
"I'm here for you, I got you. I've got the big scratcher."
