Mark Hunt
| Mark Hunt | |
|---|---|
Hunt in 2007
|
|
| Born | Mark Richard Hunt 23 March 1974 South Auckland, New Zealand |
| Other names | Super Samoan The Doctor |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Ethnicity | Samoan |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Weight | 264.5 lb (120 kg; 18 st 13 lb) |
| Division |
Super Heavyweight (Kickboxing) Heavyweight (MMA) |
| Reach | 74 in (188 cm) |
| Style | Boxing, Kickboxing |
| Fighting out of | Sydney, Australia |
| Team | Oceania Super Fighter Gym Liverpool Kickboxing Gym Tony Mundine Boxing Club American Top Team Oliver MMA AKA Thailand |
| Trainer | Hape Nganoroa Marcelo Rezende Tony Mundine Ricardo Liborio Marco Gigante Villela Steve Oliver Jayson Vemoa |
| Years active | 1998–2000 (Boxing) 1999–2008 (Kickboxing) 2004–present (MMA) |
| Professional boxing record | |
| Total | 2 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 43 |
| Wins | 30 |
| By knockout | 13 |
| Losses | 13 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 24 |
| Wins | 12 |
| By knockout | 9 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Losses | 10 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| By submission | 6 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Notable students | James Te-Huna |
| Website | http://markhuntofficial.com |
| Boxing record from BoxRec | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand mixed martial artist and former kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was the winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. As of 11 July 2016, he is #9 in official UFC heavyweight rankings. He is known as "King of Walk-Offs" by walking away and stopping attacks before the referee officially ends the match.
Hunt was born in South Auckland, into a large Samoan family, and was a troubled child eventually leading to two jail terms for violent offending. He had no intention to be a professional fighter until a late night altercation outside a nightclub just after getting out of jail for the second time in Auckland changed the course of his life. The brawl did not last long, and Hunt knocked out multiple people. Sam Marsters, one of the bouncers at the door was impressed by the young man's knockout power and invited him to his gym to take up formal training, and a week later, Hunt won a Muay Thai kickboxing match via knockout. Hunt received a six-pack of beer as a reward for the fight. Later that year Hunt moved to Sydney, Australia (residing in Campbelltown), to train with Alex Tui, and few years later he settled in Liverpool Kickboxing Gym under Maori instructor Hape Ngaranoa.
In the beginning of his career, Hunt was used by the promoters as a stepping stone for their up-and-coming fighters, taking up fights at short notice, until Tarik Solak promoted K-1 Oceania tournament in February 2000. With a record of (15-4, 3 KO's) Hunt entered his first K-1 tournament as a heavy underdog.
He won the K-1 Oceania title by knocking out "The Coconut Crusher" Aumitagi in quarter finals, Rony Sefo in semis and Phil Fagan in the finals. After this he was invited to Japan for K-1 qualifications. He lost his first international fight by unanimous decision against Jérôme Le Banner.
In 2001, Hunt returned to K-1 by winning the K-1 Oceania tournament for the second consecutive year. After that he took part of K-1 World GP 2001 in Melbourne, where he beat Japanese boxer Hiromi Amada, before suffering a close unanimous decision loss to reigning champion Ernesto Hoost. However, because of his exciting fighting style Hunt was granted a wildcard spot in the repercharge tournament for the K-1 World GP 2001 Finals, when Mirko Filipović had to pull out due to injury. He was drawn against Ray Sefo, who won the bout by outpointing Hunt. After the fight however, Sefo suffered an eye injury and was not able to continue, allowing Hunt to proceed in his place. Hunt then TKO'd Adam Watt to earn his place in the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals at the Tokyo Dome.
...
Wikipedia