Mark Hunt: The Aussie Cinderella Man of MMA

Mark Hunt’s career could be written along the same lines as James J Braddock The Cinderella Man, played by Australia’s own Russell Crowe in the title role.

Braddock was a promising young boxer whose career slumped to an incredible low in the American depression, was told by everyone to retire, but made an improbable comeback which ended with him capturing the Heavyweight Championship from the heavily favoured Maz Baer in 1935.

Mark Hunt ‘The Super Samoan’ is looking to repeat history when he takes on Fabricio Werdum for the UFC Interim Heavyweight title this weekend, a scant four years from a time when everyone except himself thought he was finished.

Hunt was born in New Zealand and grew up big and strong, developing into a troubled youth who spent a couple of stretches in prison. However after a bar fight where he single handedly beat four men who had attacked him, a friend recommended he start training and the first steps towards success were taken.

At that time fighting exclusively as a kickboxer, Hunt would steadily climb the ranks developing his skills, eventually fighting under the K-1 banner and culminating in wining the 2001 K-1 Grand Prix, this being widely recognised as the best fighter in the world.

Hunt would fight for K-1 for a number of years before deciding to transition to the world of MMA.

Signed by the (now defunct) Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, Hunt looked to have found his home.

Widely popular in the land of the rising sun due to his K-1 exploits, he was expected to challenge for the title in a number of years.

Despite a patchy record, that title shot did eventuate as he battled the all conquering Fedor Emelianenko for the Heavyweight title. Unfortunately it was not to be as despite having the champion in trouble early on, succumbed to a submission later in the fight. It was the peak of Hunt’s MMA career in Japan and was the beginning of the slide out of the HW top 10 and off everyone’s radar.

It was also his last fight in Pride.

Fast forward four years and the UFC had bought out Pride – and Hunt’s contract with it. Now on a five-fight loosing streak, he was offered to be paid out the remainder of his contract. Hunt insisted on fighting and lost his first UFC fight by armbar in a contest which had many analysts scratching their heads as to why he bothered.

It would be the nadir of his time in the wilderness however, as he bounced back with a knockout of Chris Tuchscherer in Australia.

The Super Samoan was back!

A number of low-profile victories followed, but it was his KO of the highly regarded Stefan Stuve which elevated Hunt’s stock to his present level. Displaying a much improved ground game, Hunt weathered an early storm to finish the fight with a brutal KO, shattering Struve’s jaw in the process.

A loss in a title eliminator match-up with Junior Dos Santos looked to have derailed his title charge, but a fight of the year against Antonio Silva and another stoppage win over the notoriously tough Roy Nelson meant Hunt was in pole position when champion Cain Valasquez was injured, giving him a shot at the Interim Title.

Let us not kid ourselves, Hunt is hardly the favourite against Fabricio Werdum, who is an immensely skilled opponent. However, he thrives on the underdog status and will fancy his chances against a man who enjoys fighting from the clinch, which plays nicely into Hunt’s game.

Australia will be roaring their adopted son onto championship glory. Should he succeed, a unification title fight with Heavyweight kingpin Cain Valasquez in Sydney would be a possibility. So from James J Baddock to Mark Hunt and the fairytale of the Cinderella Man, will history repeat itself again?