How Does Mark Hunt Still Have A Job?

I love Rulon Gardner. That guy was, and will remain, one of the most phenomenal American athletes ever. His 2000 Olympic match against Karelin was a nail-biter from the outset. But while he's never been a slender fella, he's spent the last 10 years getting FAT. Fat enough to embarrass himself on national TV.

Mark Hunt is, to me, MMA's Rulon Gardner. Never a slim guy, since his last win against Tsuyoshi Kosaka (who?) in 2006, he's basically just gotten FAT. Cruising around at well over 300 lbs, when he's not fighting he resembles a 5'10" Tim Sylvia. And that's not a good thing.



I mean, seriously - when you're weighing in AFTER CUTTING WEIGHT TO MAKE 265, if your muffin-top is still comfortably spilling out over the top of your shorts... you may need to re-examine your height-to-weight ratio.

But weight aside, if the guy had the skills to hang in the UFC's heavyweight division, it wouldn't be that big a deal. But he doesn't. Not anymore.

I want to be clear - Mark Hunt started off his career in FANTASTIC style, and even decisioned Mirko and Wanderlei before they both had their brains rattled a couple too many times. He's a hard puncher, and.... well, that's about it.

And let's be fair - yes, he's lost his last 6 fights. But other than Sean McCorkle (who?), he lost to Fedor, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Mousasi, and Manhoef. That's a pretty significant list. In fact, I don't know of too many guys who can say they've fought at that level of competition over the last several years, considering some of those names are bandied about on Greatest-Of-All-Time lists.

But what does it mean that Hunt showed up for the fight with Sean McCorkle fat, uninspired (although he did give us the Tito Ortiz "I promise it'll be different this time, guys"), and still without a shred of submission defense.

How is Mark Hunt still employed by the UFC with a 5-7 record, and with no win in the last 6 years? MAYBE you could argue he's a "fan favorite," that his presence on the card is supposed to drive up buys. If that's the case, though, why is this one of the only fights on the card NOT being shown on the PPV, Ion, OR Facebook?

It's a damn conspiracy, I tell you. I want to believe that Mark Hunt, Brandon Vera, and Tito Ortiz all have some super-secret information on Dana White, and it's got to be the only thing keeping them in the UFC. Of course, it's much simpler than that with Hunt.



Dana's got to be thankful THAT deal's about done. On a positive note, Hunt's opponent, Chris Tuchscherer, appears to have been given this fight simply to mangle Hunt. In fact, Tuch has 2 wins by legit submission, including an arm bar. Which makes him look like a jiu jitsu black belt compared to Hunt.

So here's hoping we see a big bear hug takedown and a merciful quick finish, so I can go back to remembering the guy that liver-kicked Dan Bobish (WAR BAS RUTTEN!) into submission (despite an AWESOME beer gut). Because that's how Mark Hunt should be remembered. Not as the muffin-top guy.

Out Jiu Jitsu-ing the Jiu Jitsu Guy

The grappling world is currently atwitter with some recently released pictures of Georges St.-Pierre training a little jits with current world champion Roger Gracie and fellow demigod Braulio Estima (photos liberated from Bloodyelbow.com, thanks guys!)





As we all know, GSP is a karate expert, first and foremost. I'm sure he got his black belt just like every 8-year-old, at some McDojo in Montreal. Except he didn’t stop there. He actually put that sucker to use, and has laid waste to some guys in the octagon with an impressive array of spinning kicks and flashy forms (for the record, I don’t know shit about karate).

Anyone who’s ever had a one-on-one conversation with Zane Frazier knows that karate alone just doesn’t cut it. So at some point, little Georgie started working on other aspects of his game. Wrestling comes to mind. Sure, it’s pretty useful in getting a fight to the ground and allowing you to control a guy there – for God’s sake, look at Jon Fitch’s success.

There’s all kinds of analysis about wrestling being the be-all-end-all martial base for a complete MMA fighter. And there’s tons of merit to that, I can’t deny it. So when you match a karateka against an NCAA Division I wrestler who’s been wrestling for virtually his entire life, the outcome is pretty predictable, right?

Ask Jon Fitch.




He got HANDLED by a guy who speaks French, and who obviously isn’t an NCAA anything.

But okay, you’re saying, Fitch was the team captain at Purdue, but he doesn’t have NEAR the credentials of his buddy Josh Koscheck, who was a 4-time All-American AND Division I champ.

Yeah, BOTH those fights saw Koscheck taken down almost at will by the same NCAA nobody. The same guy that people were speculating might try out for the Canadian Olympic wrestling squad.

At any rate, here’s my point. This guy learned wrestling AS AN ADULT. He didn’t start when he was 4, like Fitch or Koscheck. But he learned it so well he destroyed them.

And that’s why I think we’re going to see GSP out-jiu-jitsu Jake Shields at UFC 129. GSP very obviously knows a little jits. Ask Dan Hardy, who almost had his gumby-like arm broken in half by the man.

Yeah, anyone can train with anyone. Roger Gracie trains white belts, too. But I don’t get the impression that Roger is showing Georges St. Pierre basic mount defense so he can just hang on against Shields.

With Shields, you know where the fight is going to go. GSP has made a career out of going the least intuitive route and striking with theoretically (well, debatably, anyway) better strikers and wrestling with (theoretically) better wrestlers. I am CONFIDENT we’re going to see him out-grapple the grappler. Mark my words.

The Benefits of cross pollination

Recently re-watching some knockouts from later in the year, I rekindled the thought I had maybe a month ago. With so many events, from challengers to fight night, the numbered event's to the now semi regular Strikeforce state/main event hyped cards (lord knows I love St Louis, but c'mon) my mind seemed to slip. That is until boredom and the internet, brought back a question I notice quite a few have thought, but it seems none have asked: Just why was 'The Outlaw' himself Dan Hardy cornering and so proudly parading Mac "if one of y'all touched my bird feeder heads will roll" Danzig? And is this the reason Danzig's KO resembled Paul "Semtex" Daley's recent destruction of Scott Smith?

With Dan Hardy training at PGK in LA and finally making a trip to a gym where he can pick up

some much needed mat time, does this mean we can see his wrestling improve?

The reason i ask this, is this

Possibly its my naivety or my need to romanticise everything, who knows

but the first fight "The Outlaw" corners Mac in, we see him break out what is now

an almost trademarked "Team Rough House" technique .

Throughout "Semtex" career, on either side of the border, from Cage Rage to Strikeforce

to the UFC and Back again,

He's delivered on his promise and that's KO's.

Paul has demonstrated some of the best follow through left hooks, and step out/in punches at his weight for almost his entire professional life and he did so again, pushing Scott Smith's

Homer Simpson like brain cushion, past the threshold of its liquid stitching

Gif via MMA-Core.com

I'm not saying he's Anderson Silva, but arguments can be made that Daley is the most devastating one punch KO artist, at his weight (which we thought we had with Hardy due to mass hysteria and hype over Rory Markham getting starched)

Its no Secret that Hardy and Daley have and will continue to share a bond through training and being part of the recent explosion of British Sprawl'n'Brawlers - Along side other notable fighters

Ross Pearson

Andre Winner

Nick Osipzcak

Dean Amasinger

and finally Jimmy Wallhead

Hardy describes his first meetings/dealings with Paul here courtesy of sherdog

“I was fighting in amateur KSBO tournaments back in 2002-2003,” Hardy says. “We used to go to Nottingham University in the sports hall, and I remember, at those first few tournaments, I’d always see Paul Daley and Matt Howell there with their Rough House T-Shirts on. We got talking and got on really well.

“I had a disagreement with the guy I was training with at the time, so I decided to start working with Paul,” he adds. “Matt had university commitments, so it ended up being just me and Paul. When Paul started fighting professionally, I was his main training partner, and then I started fighting professionally, as well. We just sort of pick guys up along the way. A lot of guys have gravitated to us, and we’ve built a team just from working hard basically.”

Although in recent times, Hardy has ventured out, and afar

training at Legends & PKG notably alongside Danzig, both of whom

have and presumably will continue to work extensively with Freddie Roach at "The Wild Card" gym

Danzig and Hardy's friendship and training regime seems to have benefited Mac's striking style

and prowess, in his last outing he would be seen making an entire arena mistake

Joe Stevenson for a DEVO song

With the push off left hook Daley so freely uses and used to welcome Scott Smith

to the face-plant club Danzig proved that indeed the mongoloid had a job.

That job being a human game of Jenga none the less its still a job

Gif Via MM-core.com

With the "Rough House" style impregnating training partners world wide as technique is shared and friendships are made is it too soon to hold our breath on hoping the world infects "Rough House" ?

lets hope not, with recent news of GSP sharing mat time along with Roger Gracie and the Sprawl'nBrawlers (It was for Roger's upcoming fight with Trevor Prangley but a guy dreams)

Photo via Dean Amasinger's twitter

by way of Nick Thomas over at Bloody elbow

Gracie assistance aside, training with GSP can't be bad especially when you look at last year alone

Ross Pearson spent time with both Ricardo Almeida and UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar

Dan Hardy brought the funk the Danzig's punch along with spending mat time with Matt Serra

And Eddie Bravo.

Collectively knowledge has been passed, shared and no doubt re-learned and in some cases probably forgotten ( I'm looking at you Pearson and Hardy)

Emerging in 2011 in theory is the start of a worldwide complete mixed martial arts game

Photo via bloodyelbow.com

this might not be a thing of the past after all..

lets just hope we get the chance to see some future "has-been's" rather than we let handfuls of "never was" fall by the wayside