Mark Hunt talks about 'fighting for equality' in payments to athletes and rules out returning to MMA

M. Hunt is a former UFC fighter. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @markhuntfighter

Heavyweight legend (up to 120,2kg.), Mark Hunt talked about his moment in mixed martial arts. In a candid interview given to 'The MMA Hour', the New Zealander closed the door on a return to the sport and shared his desire to help other athletes in the fight for equal pay in Ultimate. He even spoke again about the lawsuit filed against the former company.

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“I’m tired of fighting. I think I lost my passion a long time ago when I filed this lawsuit against the UFC. They took that passion away from me, to be honest. The only fight I've had since leaving the UFC was a boxing fight and I couldn't get another fight anywhere. I don't think any company would get me because of this process, to be honest,” Hunt said.

The lawsuit filed against the UFC began in 2017, shortly after the UFC fight. Mark Hunt against Brock Lesnar, which took place at UFC 200. On that occasion, the New Zealander lost a unanimous decision from the judges, but saw the setback reversed in a 'no contest', after the North American tested positive for the use of clomiphene – used, on many occasions, to mask the use of androgenic anabolics –.

Therefore, Hunt accused the UFC of having 'hidden' the test results from his opponent and went to court with eight separate actions related to bad faith agreements, extortion and fraud. However, the cases were closed due to lack of evidence and, in December 2019, the organization asked for payment of legal fees. With the unsuccessful prosecution of the case, the fighter will have to pay US$301.792,50 (R$1,687 million) in lawyer fees, in addition to US$86.442,72 (R$483 thousand) in costs to the company.