Once unwanted by UFC, Hunt battles way into title mix

There is certainly no chance Ultimate Fighting Championship executives envisioned putting a belt around the sizable waist of Mark Hunt when the rotund kick boxer’s contract was acquired as part of the organization’s purchase of Japanese organization PRIDE.

In fact, the UFC hoped Hunt would simply go away.

He was in the midst of a five-fight losing streak, and despite immense punching power and a granite chin, he showed little promise as a fighter in his late 30s of duplicating his kick-boxing success in mixed martial arts.

So while the UFC excitedly added several PRIDE fighters to its roster, Hunt was offered a buyout to simply take his money and go on his way.

But he wanted to fight. Hunt insisted he be given the fights he was owed because he wanted to earn the money. Eventually, the UFC relented and put him on a card.

Hunt was submitted by Sean McCorkle 63 seconds into his UFC debut at UFC 119 in September 2010 to run his losing streak to six.

But then he started winning. He won his next four fights, three by knockout, to make himself relevant in the heavyweight division.

Hunt, now 40, has gone 1-1-1 since the winning streak, but coming off a second-round knockout of Roy Nelson in September, he will fight Fabricio Werdum for the interim heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 180 tonight in Mexico City.

Hunt said realizing the UFC planned to buy him out of his contract was a difficult moment for him as an athlete.

“It’s not an easy pill to swallow, and I don’t like being told I’m not good enough,” he said. “They basically told me, ‘Here’s your money, now piss off.’ I don’t like that. I’m one of the best fighters in the world, and it wasn’t (easy to hear), but I don’t blame them. I was on a six-fight losing streak.”

He said there’s a “long story behind” how he eventually convinced the UFC to let him fight.

The bottom line is Hunt just wanted the opportunity to prove the naysayers wrong.

“I’ve always thought as a fighter I was the best,” he said. “When people are talking rubbish saying, ‘You’re fat, you’re garbage’ or when these guys are saying, ‘You can’t do this,’ I’m thinking in my mind I can do anything. The more negativity people send my way, the more positivity I take from it.”

Hunt now finds himself in position to wear a UFC belt, though he’s quick to acknowledge the prize on the line tonight is not the ultimate prize he is chasing.

Werdum was scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight belt, but Velasquez suffered a knee injury and had to pull out of the bout last month. Hunt was called upon to replace Velasquez largely because he was healthy and coming off an impressive win.

“Look, man, I was quite happy that Cain was injured,” Hunt said. “Sorry about that Cain, but it was great news for Mark Hunt. It’s an opportunity, that’s all it is for me. This is another dream that might be coming true for me.”

He knows it’s just another step, though. A win over Werdum would make Hunt the interim champion and set up an opportunity to fight Velasquez whenever he recovers from his injury.

“This is for the No. 1 spot,” Hunt said. “This isn’t really a world title. Cain is injured, that’s why I’m here. Fabricio should be pissed off because this was his spot and now he has to fight again for the same spot he was already in, but it’s a good opportunity for me. I’ve already won just by being here. Six years ago people were laughing at me. Now I’m here and I’m winning.”

Hunt will enter as more than a 4-1 underdog to Werdum, perhaps the most skilled jiu-jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division.

Werdum has added an impressive striking game to his feared grappling to become unquestionably one of the world’s elite heavyweights. He is 4-0 since rejoining the UFC after a successful run in Strikeforce.

Hunt hopes Werdum tries to test out his improved striking tonight, though Hunt expects Werdum to try to get the fight to the ground as soon as possible.

There’s no ambiguity to Hunt’s game plan.

“My primary job is to go in and hit him and put him out,” Hunt said. “I don’t care if you have a black belt, a green belt or what color belt, these are the best fighters on the planet. But if I hit you, you’re out. I wouldn’t have taken the fight if I wasn’t confident I was going to knock Fabricio out. This is a great opportunity, and I’m going to knock him out.

“I hope I punch him in the lips, he falls, then I win.”

Hunt passed his first big test by making weight. When he took the fight a month ago, he said he weighed more than 300 pounds and would need to lose more than 35 pounds to get to the 265-pound heavyweight limit.

He weighed 265 on Friday.

“When I retire, I’m going to release a book called ‘How Mark Hunt lost 21 kilos in 3½ weeks,’ and it’s going to make me a lot of money,” Hunt had said this week. “People are going to buy it.”

He can make himself a lot of money tonight should he find a way to defy the odds again.

The pay-per-view card begins at 7 p.m., with a four-fight preliminary card airing live on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329) at 5.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.