Mark Hunt releases statement on UFC 209 loss, injury

Last night, in the first bout of the UFC 209 main card, heavyweight veteran Mark Hunt stepped into the Octagon for the first time since July against a fellow Pride veteran in Alistair Overeem. Though Hunt was not without his moments in this anticipated battle, he ultimately came up short, as he was clocked by an Overeem knee in the third round.

In the wake of this disappointing loss, Hunt took to social media to address his fans, and update on his condition – particularly a leg he appeared to injure in the second round. See the monstrous heavyweight’s post-fight comments in full below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRPoJNmg54K/?taken-by=markhuntfighter&hl=en

“Thank you for all the support, you probably already know I got knocked out,” Hunt said. “The old warhorse is still alive. Just a broken Tibia, I’ll be back.”

With this defeat, Hunt slides further into a disappointing stretch that began in July of 2016. In his last fight, he was outwrestled to a decision loss by former champ Brock Lesnar. Regrettably, this loss was overturned when Lesnar failed a pair of drug tests. In his most recent bout before this no contest with Lesnar, Hunt scored knockout wins over Frank Mir and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. The heavyweight is currently involved in a heated legal battle with the UFC.

Overeem, meanwhile, has now rebounded from a disappointing first-round knockout to reigning heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, which marked a failed attempt to claim the UFC heavyweight title. Prior to this loss, the former Strikeforce champ was riding high on a four fight win streak. This streak included a knockout of fellow Dutchman Stefan Struve, a decision defeat of the game Roy Nelson, a TKO defeat of Junior Dos Santos, and another TKO defeat of former training partner Andrei Arlovski.

What did you think of Mark Hunt’s loss to Alistair Overeem? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/5/2017.