Mark Hunt will now face Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 due to an injury Cain Velasquez sustained in preparing for the event. Joe Warren faced Rafael Silva for the Bellator Interim Bantamweight title. Later that summer Will Brooks would also become the Bellator Interim Lightweight Champion due to an injury sustained by Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez was scheduled to face Michael Chandler at the organizations first pay per view. These Interim titles are made to keep momentum in competition going and can be the ingredients for some awesome and exciting match ups.
However, Interim titles seem to have a stigma among fighters, and when they get the title some fighters are hesitant to even wear that particular belt. Rewind back to UFC 79 when Matt Serra was set to face Matt Hughes and Serra had to pull out due to injury. Georges St-Pierre would step in and win to become the Interim Welterweight Champion and he was vocal about that belt not being “the” belt, later after photo ops handing it off to one of his seconds. It would seem although it solidifies them as the top of their division, they’re still not the champion until they beat the champion.
Mark Hunt has been a fighter for a long time and while having been a champion in kickboxing, he has yet to wear the title in MMA. He is currently ranked at number four in his weight class according to the UFC’s Heavyweight rankings. Hunt came closest to a title in the now defunct Pride Shockwave 2006 when he faced Fedor Emelianenko. Hunt lost by submission. If he can pull off a win when he faces Werdum he will be the Interim Heavyweight Champion, but at 40 years old would it be in his best interest to try and take it as far as unifying the title? If he does, how long will he defend that title? I ask because he has already stated he would retire once his six fight contract is done with the UFC.
If anyone can pull it off, it’s Hunt. He can still take a hit and he has improved his submission defense. He would be the UFC’s Rocky story if he could get the title and defend it until his contract is up. This, of course, is all speculation until he gets past Werdum, whose most notable win is against the man Hunt lost to at Pride Shockwave 2006, Fedor Emelianenko. Everyone loves an underdog and if Hunt pulls off a win a movie should be made about the man known as “The Super Samoan.”
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