Fans hail UFC veteran Mark Hunt following his impressive knockout win over Sonny Bill Williams in his last ever fight
MMA fans have reacted to footage of former UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt's final fight of his career today (November 5). 'Super Samoan' defeated former Rugby union star Sonny Bill Williams via TKO in the fourth round in a professional boxing bout.
Hunt is an MMA legend and last appeared for the UFC in 2018, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Justin Willis. Despite a mixed MMA career record (13-14), Hunt was a favorite amongst MMA fans and is known for his vicious knock-out power. The 48-year-old is often referred to as the master of the walk-away KO.
Combat sports legend Mark Hunt just KO’d New Zealand rugby star and 9-0 boxer Sonny Bill Williams.
https://t.co/mbsYx2rbnz
Fans have reacted to the boxing upset from Hunt, with one remembering that even at the age of 48, Mark Hunt is a master of the knockout.
"King of the walk away KO."
Another fan referred to the finish as "vintage" Mark Hunt, as 10 of his 13 MMA wins were via KO/TKO.
Reddit user @Chad-Permabull joked that Hunt let Williams hit him with bombs to the head to tire out his hands before going on the attack himself.
"Hunt with the ole rope a dope. He lets you gas out raining clean bombs on his head. After his iron skull fatigures your hands, your arms and ultimately your spirit - he goes on the attack."
Check out more fan reactions below:
Ex-UFC fighter Mark Hunt criticized Dana White and the UFC ahead of boxing bout against Sonny Bill Williams
Mark Hunt was widely popular amongst fans during his UFC tenure. One of the reasons for it was that he was unafraid to call out the organization and the UFC brass when he felt he had been wronged.
While fighting for the UFC, 'Super Samoan' fought Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir and Antonio Silva. All three men tested positive for a banned substance or failed a drugs test following their bout with Hunt. This led to the 48-year-old demanding a stipulation in his contract for future opponents if they cheated, but the UFC refused.
During his pre-fight presser with Williams, Hunt discussed his time with the UFC and said:
"In MMA and UFC, everyone that pays bucks to buy the UFC [pay-per-view] to support their fighters, whether it is Volkanovski or whoever, from this side of the world, they get whatever deal they made with Dana White. They don't get half of the pay-per-view."
The New Zealander added:
"They gave me Overeem [after the Lesnar fight], the worst cheating guy. And I said again,' Put a clause in my contract.' They said,'No. If you don't take this fight, we're going to fire you. I said, 'How are you going to make a guy starve because of my stance on this unfair playing field?' So I said I'll take the fight and drop the lawsuit. That was seven years ago."
Catch the press conference here: