Mark Hunt
Iron chin, heavy hands, and the walk-off knockout
- Born
- March 23, 1974, South Auckland, New Zealand
- Nationality
New Zealand- Height
- 178 cm (5′10″)
- Reach
- 183 cm (6′0″)
- Style
- Iron-chinned brawler
- Weight
- Heavyweight
- Active
- 1998–2022
- Status
- Retired · age 52
The record
Kickboxing, Wikipedia infobox (43 bouts). MMA 13-14-1 with 1 NC (Sherdog, UFC.com); pro boxing 1-2-1. record
The story
ark Hunt, The Super Samoan from South Auckland, won the K-1 World Grand Prix and later fought in the UFC until 2018. He started kickboxing professionally in 1999, and two years later won the 2001 World Grand Prix in Tokyo, knocking out Jérôme Le Banner, outpointing Stefan Leko and beating Francisco Filho after an extra round in the final. At 178 cm he was short for a heavyweight, but a famously hard chin let him take risks to land his left hook and right hand. He moved to MMA in 2004, and his habit of turning away from a beaten opponent before the referee stepped in made him the King of Walk-Offs. In 2022, at 48, he stopped Sonny Bill Williams in a boxing match. As a young man in South Auckland he had trouble with the law.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- K-1 World Grand Prix champion (2001)
- K-1 Oceania Grand Prix champion (2000, 2001)
- WKBF Australian super heavyweight champion (1999)
- World MMA Awards Knockout of the Year (2014)
Defining fights
- 2001WINvs Jérôme Le Banner (KO 2, right hook, K-1 World GP quarterfinal)
- 2001WINvs Stefan Leko (unanimous decision, K-1 World GP semifinal)
- 2001WINvs Francisco Filho (extra-round decision, K-1 World GP final)
- 2008LOSSvs Semmy Schilt (TKO 1, K-1 super heavyweight title)
- 2022WINvs Sonny Bill Williams (TKO 4, boxing)
Hunt's power came from short punches: slip outside the opponent's jab and fire a left hook to the head or body from bent knees, so the punch travels a short path.
2005–now