Mark Hunt to ‘pretender’ Brock Lesnar: ‘This is real fighting’

MANILA, Philippines – If Brock Lesnar is expecting a triumphant return to the Octagon, Mark Hunt has other plans in mind as he squares off with the former heavyweight titleholder at the UFC 200 pay-per-view card on July 9 (July 10 in Manila).

While many are celebrating Lesnar’s mixed martial arts (MMA) comeback, which was announced during the broadcast of UFC 199 over the weekend, the 42-year-old “Super Samoan” plans on making it as unpleasant as possible.

“I’ll knock his face off. I’ll knock his mouth off and then his lips fly off,” Hunt blatantly said in an interview with MarkHunt.TV

Hunt admittedly had no idea that he was going to face Lesnar when he was offered to compete at UFC 200, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“When I was asked a few weeks ago to stay ready for July, I was very pumped man. I had no idea it would be Brock, but like everything it doesn’t matter who I fight; they are going to get it good and proper when I step inside the cage,” he stated.

Hunt is coming off a first-round knockout victory over Frank Mir this past March and is currently riding high on a two-fight winning streak.

On the other hand, Lesnar has not fought since December 2011 when he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Alistair Overeem.

Lesnar described it as a “haunting feeling” when he walked away from the sport following his disappointing defeat to Overeem as his MMA career was interrupted by diverticulitis, a common digestive disease which involves the formation of pouches within the bowel wall.

“It haunted me because at the top of my career, I wasn’t at the top of my game,” Lesnar said in a sit-down interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday, June 6. “I felt I was cheated out of my career in the UFC. In my mind and in my heart, I never lost to a foe. I never lost to my opponent. I lost to diverticulitis. That was my opponent that beat me.”

Following his departure from the UFC, Lesnar returned to professional wrestling in April 2012 and inked a lucrative limited-appearance agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

A few hours after UFC publicly revealed Lesnar’s unanticipated return, WWE issued a statement that the 38-year-old wrestler remains under contract with the organization.

However, the 5-foot-10 Hunt considers Lesnar’s “one-off” opportunity to compete at UFC 200 an insult to full-time fighters like him.

“I ain’t no part-time fighter. He thinks this is a game where he can come back and forth. I will send this pretender back so he can play house with the other part-timers. This realm is for the real fighters, not these damn pretenders,” Hunt stressed.

Hunt, who has won 9 of his 12 professional victories via knockout, issued a stern warning to Lesnar.

“Don’t confuse wrestling with real fighting. I’m going to give it to him,” he warned. – Rappler.com