Hidehiko Yoshida vs Mark Hunt - Pride Critical Countdown 2004

Hidehiko Yoshida vs Mark Hunt - Pride Critical Countdown 2004
Year: 2004

Mark Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Hunt competed in the UFC until 2018 and was the winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. He is known as "King of Walk-Offs" due to his popularization of 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.


Hunt's MMA career saw him fight in events in Japan's PRIDE FC. His first MMA fight was a submission loss to Hidehiko Yoshida, an Olympic gold medalist in judo. In his second fight, he defeated American wrestler Dan Bobish by TKO. Hunt stepped in as a late replacement for Sakuraba, and won a split decision against an outweighed PRIDE middleweight (205 lb) champion Wanderlei Silva. Silva, renowned for his brutal punching and Muay Thai clinch game, was neutralized by the hard-hitting Samoan and knocked down several times in the fight. At the PRIDE Shockwave 2005 event, Hunt surprisingly defeated Mirko Cro Cop via a split decision, after his earlier loss to him in K-1. At PRIDE 31: Unbreakable, Hunt defeated Japanese boxer Yosuke Nishijima in the third round with a powerful one-two punch.

Hunt's next fight was in the opening round of PRIDE's 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix (PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute) on 5 May 2006. His opponent was Japan's Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, who he defeated by TKO in the second round. He then faced American catch-wrestler Josh Barnett at PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute in the second round of the tournament. Hunt was immediately taken down by Barnett and ultimately lost to a kimura submission roughly two and a half minutes into the first round.

Following that fight, Hunt next lost to PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. Hunt controlled Emelianenko most of the fight and even effectively countered an armbar early in the bout. Hunt's greatest chance of winning came when he was able to put Emelianenko in an Americana. Unfortunately for Hunt, Emelianenko was able to fight through it and submit Hunt with a kimura.


On 21 July 2008, more than a year after his previous MMA fight, Hunt returned to MMA to face Alistair Overeem at the Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round, and was submitted by an armlock in just over a minute into the first round.

Hunt was set to fight Jerome Le Banner at Dynamite!! 2008 but ended up fighting late replacement Melvin Manhoef after Le Banner pulled out. Despite the fact that he had a substantial weight advantage over Manhoef, he was knocked out in 18 seconds in the first round. This marked the first time he had been stopped by knockout due to punches to the head.

On 26 May 2009, Hunt fought former DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi in the opening round of the Super Hulk Grand Prix at Dream 9. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

When the UFC acquired Pride FC in 2007, they also acquired Hunt's contract. Hunt was owed a specific number of fights on a no-cut contract, but due to Hunt losing several fights in a row, the UFC didn't want to take him. Hunt was reportedly offered a total sum of approximately $450,000 for a contract buyout, but he refused, electing to fight instead. Hunt made his UFC debut on 25 September 2010, at UFC 119 against fellow UFC newcomer and undefeated prospect Sean McCorkle. Hunt trained with American Top Team for the fight. Photos that had emerged on the internet had shown that Hunt had lost a considerable amount of weight in comparison to that of his Pride days. Hunt lost the fight via submission in the first round.


Hunt was born a Mormon, but is now a born-again Christian. He lives in Australia with his second wife and has six children. The first two children from his first marriage are already adults. Hunt and his second wife, Julie, met in a reggae club around 1994 and have four children. In December 2014 Hunt's older brother John committed suicide at the age of 44.

Kickboxing record
Total 43
Wins 30
Losses 13


MMA record
Total 29
Wins 13
Losses 14
Draws 1
No contests 1