>Mark Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva had an epic 25 minute battle less than two years ago in Australia, but the rematch ended in less than four minutes at UFC 193 on Saturday night.
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Silva caught Hunt with a right hand of his own but it didn’t deter the heavy-hitting 41-year-old, connecting with a lethal blow shortly after and lading two more before the referee stopped the fight. He simply can’t absorb strikes like he once did, and this fight made it obvious.
Hunt and Silva were tentative for the first minute and a half but Hunt was able to get inside Silva’s reach advantage and land a crisp right hand that only grazed the top of Silva’s head. Hunt stalked Silva as the Brazilian circled on the outside.
The pair mixed wins and losses after their Brisbane beat-down but this victory for Hunt has put him back on track to move up the rankings. “I’m fit as a fiddle. I trained really hard”. “I’m looking forward to this fight against Big Foot, it is going to be really good”. While kicking from the outside – low kicks were a huge part of his success in the first fight – Silva stayed in position to make Hunt miss and then look to counter. The 41-year-old admitted he is in the best shape of his fighting career after losing as much as 22 kilograms. On the other side, Silva, 36, continues to struggle when it comes to taking punches.
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Fight fans can certainly expect another slugfest between these two fighters, but with Hunt in a better shape than Silva, the Kiwi fighter is the favourite to win their rematch. He tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following the 2013 draw to Hunt and was forced to serve a nine-month suspension. Hunt, of New Zealand, received a nice pop from the Melbourne crowd. Whittaker was originally supposed to fight Michael Bisping, who fell off the card due to injury. Whittaker said of Hall. Rosholt controls Struve, wins third straight Former collegiate wrestler and heavyweight contender Jared Rosholt (14-2) managed to grind out a decision against Stefan Struve (26-8) via unanimous scores of 29-28. He exhausted late and ate a few big shots along the fence, but Struve was unable to get a finish.
