Neil Magny is one tough motherfucker. He took like a million clean shots from Lombard and survived to dominate the 2nd round. 10-8 round for Lombard, then a 10-8 round for Magny.
The scores don't matter now. 3rd round TKO by Magny. He was fucked in the first round. Most MMA refs would have stopped it in the first round and given the fight to Lombard.
Disappointed in Lombard, why didn't he go for something in R1 ??? What a KO again from Hunt, love watching that guy
I love Hunt, but his continuous success (as well as Arlovski's) when he should be retired (and alway's was limited) just show how bad the hw division is. To think that a prime Hunt was considered a joke defense for Fedor. People keep on telling how much mma has improved but honestly, I think that a prime Shamrock or Don Frye would still be competitive in the division
Heavyweight is the only division where guys like Hunt and Arlovski still find success. They can break into the top 10 with their striking skills. They just can't beat the guys at the very top. Hunt has the power to beat any man in the world on a good night. We just see what happened when he took on the top guys at the time, JDS and Werdum. Prime Don Frye would be a force at heavyweight today. Several of the old UFC greats would be competitive at heavyweight today. The difference in skill level between guys today and guys in the 90s seems more apparent at lower weight classes for some reason.
Did you see the Shamrock fight? Prime Don Frye would be a force today, assuming he's cross training in different disciplines like everyone else today. "A force" meaning top 10, not champion. I met him in person at a fitness expo thing a few years ago. Cool guy. I also met Bas Rutten, my favorite heavyweight of the 90s. Bas would also be a force in the division today if he was in his prime years now.
I don't know that Hunt was considered a joke opponent for Fedor. Didn't the dude already have MMA wins over Mirko and Wandy when he fought Fedor? I think Hunt's always been somewhat discounted as a contender because he's fat and doesn't necessarily look like the prototypical MMA fighter but I don't know that a K-1 champion would be considered a joke.
He seemed like kind of a joke when he joined the UFC. An aging kickboxer with a string of recent submission losses, and a submission loss to McCorkle in his first UFC fight. He focused on his takedown defense and defensive jiu jitsu and really turned his career around. There are lots of ways to win in MMA. The best way for an elite boxer / kickboxer is to learn how to stop takedowns, and how to defend submissions and get back up if it gets to the ground. Mark Hunt was basically one fight away from a title shot at 40 with his striking skills and defensive grappling.
At the time, Fedor was severly criticized for this fight. Especially since Hunt was just easily submitted by Barnett
I'm wondering to what extent Hunt really improved on his TDD. It seems that most fighter just don't try to take him down recently.
Mir tried to take him down. He didn't come close. Even when Hunt gets taken down, he's learned how to defend himself better. He spent some time on his back against Werdum and didn't get submitted.
He was in the 220s and ripped in his prime. He had a lot more muscle and cardio endurance than some heavyweights in the 240s today. He was a much better all around athlete than guys like Royce who won on skills alone. Prime Royce wouldn't make it to the UFC at welterweight now, because everyone trains BJJ and everyone's in better shape than he ever was.
