The Incredible Shrinking Hunt
Jake Rossen Sep 8, 2010
It’s never a good sign to see a professional athlete refusing to
take off his shirt when a camera is around. Even with that
disclaimer, the training footage depicting Mark Hunt
that’s been circulating shows an obviously leaner fighter taking
his UFC debut fairly seriously.
Granted, Hunt doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter: If he doesn’t drop the excess flab that’s hung over his kickboxing trunks since the 1990s, he won’t slide under the 265-pound weight cap. But it’s nice to know someone is finally ignoring the idea perpetuated by bloated athletes like Roy Nelson that you can carry a sloppy body fat percentage and still be taken seriously.
Nelson is a good fighter, as is Hunt, but there is zero benefit to having a gut to haul around in a sport as demanding on your anaerobic activity as MMA. Can it be used to “control” opponents on the ground who have trouble moving the excess weight? I guess: Hunt kept side control on Fedor Emelianenko for an impressively long time. But actual technique would accomplish the same thing.
Hunt comes into the UFC with an asterisk: He appears to be unwanted by the company and is present only because of contractual obligations stemming from their buyout of Pride in 2007. His MMA career has had a bizarre tempo: After winning five of his first six, he went on to lose his next five. That’s leprosy to the promotion, which typically only signs fighters on win streaks -- even when, in the case of several debuting or returning fighters, those wins are against human heavy bags. At least Hunt lost to some of the best in the business, including Emelianenko and Josh Barnett. If he goes down again, at least he’ll look good doing it.
Granted, Hunt doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter: If he doesn’t drop the excess flab that’s hung over his kickboxing trunks since the 1990s, he won’t slide under the 265-pound weight cap. But it’s nice to know someone is finally ignoring the idea perpetuated by bloated athletes like Roy Nelson that you can carry a sloppy body fat percentage and still be taken seriously.
Nelson is a good fighter, as is Hunt, but there is zero benefit to having a gut to haul around in a sport as demanding on your anaerobic activity as MMA. Can it be used to “control” opponents on the ground who have trouble moving the excess weight? I guess: Hunt kept side control on Fedor Emelianenko for an impressively long time. But actual technique would accomplish the same thing.
Hunt comes into the UFC with an asterisk: He appears to be unwanted by the company and is present only because of contractual obligations stemming from their buyout of Pride in 2007. His MMA career has had a bizarre tempo: After winning five of his first six, he went on to lose his next five. That’s leprosy to the promotion, which typically only signs fighters on win streaks -- even when, in the case of several debuting or returning fighters, those wins are against human heavy bags. At least Hunt lost to some of the best in the business, including Emelianenko and Josh Barnett. If he goes down again, at least he’ll look good doing it.
