Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt is a New Zealand heavyweight nicknamed Super Samoan, who spent part of his career in kickboxing (27 fights, 13 wins, 13 losses, 1 draw), now plays in mixed martial arts tournaments. Ranked 10th in the official UFC heavyweight title as of September 20, 2018 (43 fights, 30 wins, 13 losses). The winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix, who presented the fans with many spectacular fights.

Mark Richard Hunt (Mark Richard Hunt) was born in South Auckland (New Zealand) on March 23, 1974 in a large family originally from Samoa. A difficult childhood affected the character of Mark.

The father constantly terrorized his sons, tied them up and brutally beat them with whatever came to hand. Because of the bruises, Mark often missed school. Older sister Victoria under 18 was sexually abused by her parent. She had to endure harassment to protect her brothers.

Avoiding daily violence, the boy spent most of his time on the street. There he took out the accumulated anger on his peers. By the age of 16, Mark had been repeatedly detained by the police for fights, car theft, and theft. For this he spent 9 months in Veikeria prison. The second time he was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for assault.

The young man was not going to be a professional fighter, until one day a fight broke out near a nightclub in Oakland, Hunt laid three people down. Sam Marsters, the bouncer of the establishment, was impressed by the strength of the young man's punch and invited him to the gym to undergo formal training. A week later, Mark won his first fight by knockout and received a package of beer as an award.

After that, Hunt moved to Australia, in the Sydney suburb of Campbelltown, to train with Alex Tui, and a few years later he moved to Liverpool Kickboxing Gym with Hape Nganaroa.

At the beginning of his career, Hunt was not perceived as a serious fighter. He participated in tournaments without special training and the ability to tune in. Nevertheless, in 19 matches, Mark won 15 wins, 3 fights ended in knockout, he lost 4.

In 2000, Tariq Solak, the kickboxing promoter, after meeting with the founder of K-1 Nobuaki Kakuda, became the CEO of the tournament in Oceania. He invited Hunt as a "passing" fighter. However, Mark won the tournament by beating Clay Aumitagi in the quarterfinals, Roni Sefo in the semifinals and Phil Fagan in the final. This result allowed the Samoan to travel to Japan to participate in the K-1 qualification. Hunt lost the first international fight against the Frenchman Jerome Le Bannet by the decision of the judges.

In 2001, Mark returned to K-1, winning the Oceania tournament for the second consecutive year. After that, he took part in the 2001 K-1 World GP in Melbourne, where he defeated Japanese boxer Hiromi Amada, and then was defeated by the reigning champion - Dutchman Ernesto Hostu.

Hunt's fighting style attracted the attention of specialists, in the final of the K-1 World GP 2001 he replaced Croat Mirko Krokop, who was eliminated due to injury. In the first fight, Mark played against Ray Sefo and lost on points. However, the winner was unable to continue the tournament and Hunt moved on. A TKO against Adam Watt allowed Mark to compete in the K-1 World Grand Prix final in Tokyo.

Mark chose Jerome Le Bannet as his rival, which surprised the audience and professionals who did not forget how the Frenchman beat the Samoan last year. Hunt won the rematch, beating Le Bannet in the second round, and faced Stéphane Leko in the semi-finals. After 2 knockdowns, the fight by unanimous decision of the judges ended with the victory of the New Zealand athlete.

The title of champion of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 was brought to Hunt by a victory in the final of the tournament over Brazilian Francisco Filho, master of the Kyokushinkai.

In 2002 in Paris, the Super Samoan met for the third time in a head-to-head duel with Le Bannet. It was one of the most brutal battles in K-1 history. The Frenchman, speaking to his native audience, knocked Hunt down in the second round, but a few seconds later received a return knockdown, but did not lose the initiative. As a result, the fight was stopped, as the New Zealander could not continue the fight.

On December 17, 2002, Mark Hunt entered the ring to defend his K-1 world title. In the quarterfinals, Mark knocked out Stefan Leko and again hit Jerome Le Bannet in the next round. Despite being knocked down against the Frenchman at the end of the third round, Hunt lost the fight by decision and ended the K-1 World Grand Prix.

Hunt's career continued in MMA. The first fight in the tournament organized by the PRIDE Fighting Championship, the Samoan lost to Hidehiko Yoshida, the Olympic gold medalist in judo. In the second fight, he defeated American wrestler Dan Bobish by technical knockout.

This was followed by an important win over middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, known for his brutal Muay Thai strikes. Hunt withstood the attacks of the Brazilian "ax assassin" and made several successful retaliatory attacks. In 2005, at the PRIDE Shockwave tournament, Hunt unexpectedly defeated Mirko Krokop Filipovic by decision of the judges.

Mark's next fight at the PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute open mixed martial arts tournament took place on May 5, 2006. His opponent was the Japanese fighter Tsuoshi Kohaku, whom he defeated by TKO in the second round. Then there was a meeting with the representative of the United States Josh Barnett in the second round of PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute. The American won the fight 2.5 minutes after the start.

In 2006, Hunt lost the PRIDE heavyweight title to Fedor Emelianenko at the 2006 PRIDE Shockwave. Mark controlled the enemy for most of the fight, but the Russian applied a kimura painful hold and won.

On July 21, 2008, Hunt faced Alistair Overeem in the final round of Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008. A minute after the start of the fight, the Dutchman captured and defeated Super Samoan. In 2008, Hunt's fight with Jerome Le Bannet was announced, but the latter was replaced by Melvin Manhoef. The advantage in weight was on the side of Mark, but the Dutch fighter snatched the victory in the 18th second of the match. In this fight, the New Zealander was knocked out for the first time.

On May 26, 2009, Hunt was defeated by former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Musasi in the first round of the Super Hulk Grand Prix. On September 25, 2010, Samoan's debut fight took place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He faced Sean McCorkle and suffered his 6th consecutive loss.

The next fight in the UFC, if lost, could have been the last in Hunt's career, but Mark pulled himself together and knocked out Chris Taksherer with an uppercut in the 2nd round. Super Samoan's unsuccessful streak was interrupted. This was followed by victories over heavyweight Ben Rothwell and Cheyk Kongo.

In May 2012, Hunt planned to fight Stefan Struve, but the fight had to be canceled due to Mark's injury, he taught a cruciate knee ligament rupture. The athlete underwent surgery and went through a long recovery period. The fight took place on March 3, 2013 as part of the UFC in Japan and ended with Hunt's victory after two rounds. His jaw was voted “Best Knockout of the Night”.

On May 25, 2013, Mark faced Junior Dos Santos at a tournament in Las Vegas. In the first round, the New Zealander broke his big toe and was knocked out by an opponent. Later, some media called this fight the best in the history of heavyweight fights.

In December 2013, the central event of UFC Fight Night 33 was the meeting between Hunt and Antonio Silva, nicknamed Bigfoot. By the decision of the judges, the fight ended in a draw, the prize money was divided between the participants. After the fight, Silva was convicted of doping, deprived of bonuses and suspended from performances for 9 months.

On October 21, 2014, it was announced that Hunt would replace injured heavyweight Cain Velasquez in the UFC 180 Main Event with Fabrice Werdum. Despite the offensive advantage and a competent line of defense, the Samoan lost the fight and the title of interim heavyweight champion in the second round.

On November 15, 2015, Hunt faced Antonio Silva again and defeated him in the 4th minute of the fight. On March 4, 2017, Mark had a rematch against Alistair Overeem, but was again defeated in the 3rd round.

On June 11, 2017, Hunt entered the ring against Derrick Lewis in the main event at UFC Fight Night 110. This was the Super Samoan's first performance at home in Oakland. From the first seconds of the battle, the New Zealander settled in the center of the octagon and began hunting the enemy. 3 rounds were held under the total control of Mark over the fleeing opponent. In the 4th round, Hunt struck a series of powerful shots at the net, after which the judges stopped the fight and awarded the ring owner the victory.

On November 18, 2017, Mark was supposed to fight Marcin Tybura, but he was removed from the list of participants in UFC Fight Night 121. The organizers of the tournament explained that in an interview, Hunt complained about health problems, memory loss caused by brain damage.

Despite the fact that the athlete passed the necessary medical tests in preparation for the competition, he was not allowed into the ring. A new conflict arose with the head of the UFC, Dana White. Earlier, in 2016, the parties began a lawsuit based on the organization's attitude to the use of illegal drugs by athletes.

On February 11, 2018, the New Zealander entered the ring again, but was defeated by Curtis Blades by the decision of the judges. After that, he announced that he would not renew his contract after UFC 221.

Super Samoan's next fight against Alexei Oleinik became the main event of UFC Fight Night 136 in Moscow. The Russian pressed the opponent from the beginning of the fight, in the 4th minute he applied a choke hold and defeated the eminent New Zealander.

Mark Hunt is married to Julie Heeren, born in 1973. They met at a bar in Sydney. The future wife became the first person to recognize the tragedy of the athlete's personal life. After the wedding, the young people visited the Samoan family, but the relationship did not work out. Julie disgusted her husband's parents.

The couple have 6 children. Mrs. Hunt is a housewife and mom.

The couple overcame difficulties together, the reason for which lies in the childhood of the fighter. Mark resorted to the help of a psychotherapist to avoid divorce.

In 2013, he lost his brother John to suicide. Stephen, another brother of the fighter, was diagnosed with schizophrenia by doctors, and his sister Victoria took care of him.

Super Samoan is a bright, extraordinary personality. His height is 178 cm, weight 120 kg.

Before each fight, Hunt dyes his hair, loves tattoos. Recently, a new tattoo appeared on the athlete's chest: skulls in samurai helmets. The athlete posted the photo on his Instagram page.

Recently, Mark has had health problems. As a result of numerous head injuries, he began to stutter, sleep and memory worsened. The fighter does not make global plans for the future, he has a contract with the UFC for several fights.

Hunt recently co-authored with Ben McKilvey on an autobiography titled Born To Fight.

1999 - WKBF 2000 Australian Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion - K-1 Grand Prix Oceania Champion 2001 - K-1 World Grand Prix Champion 2001 - K-1 Melbourne Qualifying Champion 2001 - K-1 Grand Prix Champion Oceania Performance of the Night Award vs. Roy Nelson Performance of the Night Award vs. Frank World Best Fight of the Night Award vs. Junior Dos Santos Best Fight of the Night Award vs. Antonio Silva Best Knockout of the Night Award vs. Chris Tachscherer Best Knockout of the Night Award »Against Stefan Struve

Mark Hunt 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is Mark Hunt in 2020?

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2021

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.9M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $739K - $1.4M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2020

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.5M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $906.2K - $2M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2019

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.9M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $852.1K - $1.9M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2018

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.1M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $507.3K - $1.2M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2017

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.5M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $997.6K - $2M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2016

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $725.1K - $1.9M.

Mark Hunt Net Worth 2015

Mark Hunt 's revenue is $1.5M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Mark Hunt and could vary in the range between $695.5K - $1M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Mark Hunt. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does Mark Hunt makes a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from Mark Hunt's projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.