Mark Hunt Cleared To Fight By Doctors, Wants Fabricio Werdum at UFC 221 in Australia
Mark Hunt is finally ready to return to the UFC Octagon.
After being pulled from his last fight over concerns about his health, Hunt traveled to the United States just recently for a round of rigorous testing to ensure that he was still able to fight.
The entire scenario unfolded after Hunt penned a column where he admitted to memory lapses as well as slurring his speech, which eventually led to UFC officials yanking him from a fight against Marcin Tybura. Hunt was not happy about the situation but he was finally able to reach a middle ground with the UFC by agreeing to travel to Las Vegas for a series of medical examinations to find out if his brain was still fit for fighting.
Well now according to Hunt’s management team, he’s been cleared and they hope to speak to the UFC very soon about booking his next fight.
“We’ve just had a conference call with the doctors in the States, who gave us the good news,” Hunt’s manager Zen Ginnen said when speaking to the Daily Telegraph in Australia. “So it’s all looking positive.
“The doctor said Mark scored well above average and that he’s good to compete. So they’ll ring the UFC now and let them know. We’re just waiting on the UFC to clear him.”
When Hunt was first pulled from his fight, he lashed out at the promotion but more specifically taking aim at UFC president Dana White, who he accused of holding a grudge against him because he’s currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the company concerning his 2016 fight against Brock Lesnar where he later tested positive for a banned substance.
White countered that argument by pointing out that Hunt has fought in the UFC several times since that lawsuit was filed and he’s been paid well over $1 million during that period. He also added that the UFC offered to fly Hunt to Las Vegas for additional testing but he refused.
It seems all sides finally agreed on the testing with Hunt coming to Las Vegas just recently and now it appears doctors have made a decision to clear him to fight again.
“So now Mark’s been cleared twice. He’s done testing with two experts in Australia — and been cleared — before going and proving himself again in the US,” Ginnen said.
“Obviously our concern was always Mark’s health and we’re pleased to know everything is fine. The doc said he’ll forward on the results to the UFC and so we’ll wait to hear from them.”
Assuming the UFC gets the same word from the doctors, Hunt is hoping to make his return as quickly as possible with a targeted date in Australia in February.
UFC 221 takes place in Perth, Australia on Feb. 11 and Hunt would like nothing more than to settle the score with an old rival as part of the upcoming pay-per-view.
“We would love for Fabricio [Werdum]to be Mark’s opponent in Perth,’’ Ginnen said. “We think Francis Ngannou is next in line for a title fight [against Stipe Miocic]. So we’d like to go up against Fabricio and hopefully be in line for a title shot at the back end of 2018.”
Werdum defeated Hunt back in 2014 but now the heavy-hitting heavyweight wants his chance at revenge and he hopes to face the former UFC champion when he returns to action early next year.
