Brendan Schaub has heaped praise on Mark Hunt after his retirement victory.
‘The Super Somoan’ has long been a fan favorite in the MMA community. Originally getting into kickboxing and boxing, he made the jump to PRIDE in 2004. There, he pulled off massive victories, defeating names such as Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop.
In 2010, the former K-1 champion headed to the UFC. There, Hunt blossomed into being one of the best heavyweights on the planet, defeating names such as Frank Mir, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, and Roy Nelson. He also earned an interim title shot against Fabricio Werdum in 2014.
However, the love didn’t last between Mark Hunt and the UFC. After Brock Lesnar tested positive following their UFC 200 clash, the heavyweight sued the promotion. He later fought out his contract and has since returned to boxing. Their legal battle is still ongoing.
Last weekend, the former UFC heavyweight announced his retirement after a knockout win over Sonny Bill Williams. Despite entering the boxing match as a huge underdog, Hunt managed to score a fourth-round finish over the undefeated boxer.
Brendan Schaub believes that victory was the perfect capstone to Mark Hunt’s career. On the Schaub Show, the fighter-turned-podcaster praised the knockout win. He also took aim at the UFC for the controversy with Hunt in 2016.
“I told [Joe] Rogan, dude, he’s 48. His opponent was 37 and undefeated, he didn’t fight some bum,” stated Schaub on his podcast. “He lit this dude up, the highlight is fantastic. The body shot hurt him, remember this is boxing kids… The UFC needs to be careful, because as much as a badass Mark Hunt is, he’s an OG. As tough as they get, probably top five toughest guy to ever enter the octagon.”
He continued, “A real gangster. Everyone likes to say gangster, ‘Khamzat [Chimaev] is a gangster, Nate [Diaz] is a gangster’ shut the f*ck up. Mark Hunt is a legit, hard-nosed gangster when it comes to fighting… When you talk about gangster, Mark Hunt is your poster boy. There’s nobody that is tougher than Mark f*cking Hunt.”
“Mark Hunt is a top-five toughest human being to ever exist in combat sports. You just saw what he did to an undefeated boxer, he still has it.”
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