Mark Hunt has been engaged in a legal battle with the UFC since 2017. 'Super Samoan' recently claimed that money was not the only motivation behind the lawsuit.
According to Hunt, the UFC's monopoly has made its name synonymous with mixed martial arts for casual fans. Hunt believes he was never given an 'even playing field' as his opponents kept cheating. The Kiwi told Submission Radio:
"You know, the UFC is just a company as we all know but a lot of people don't. They think mixed martial arts is UFC. And just to be fighting on an even playing field and for fighters rights, you know, it was totally not what I expected to be fighting for to be honest. I thought my time was already up, I mean like six years ago. I think when I filed this lawsuit, it wasn't about the finances, it was about equality. And fighting on an even playing field because I never got there. It was one guy after the other cheating and the UFC doing nothing about it."
Watch Mark Hunt's interview with Submission Radio below:
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Mark Hunt believes he could have fought some more
Mark Hunt's legal battle with the UFC is centered around his UFC 200 bout against Brock Lesnar. While Hunt dropped a unanimous decision, the result was overturned after Lesnar failed in and out of competition tests.
After UFC 200, Hunt fought for the UFC five more times, going 1-4. 'Super Samoan' believes he had a few more bouts left in him if not for the controversial fight. Hunt told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour:
"[It’s] bulls*** to be honest. I mean, the truth is they cheated, Lesnar cheated and yet I’m the one sitting here and lost six years of my life, well, the rest of my career. I could have fought a few more contracts and you know, people complain about me whining about it. I’m like, they’ve been doing this for a long long time. They’ve been doing this for over 20 years, results coming back after fights."
Watch Hunt's appearance on The MMA Hour below: