Miocic’s brutal beating of Hunt in UFC bout raises eyebrows
John Sharp might have been the last person watching Saturday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event to be convinced that Mark Hunt had taken enough damage from fellow heavyweight contender Stipe Miocic.
Sharp’s opinion carried the most weight, however, as he was the referee for the main event of the bout in Adelaide, Australia.
When Sharp finally stopped the fight in the final round, Hunt’s face was a swollen and bloody mess, and Miocic got to celebrate a pivotal victory in his pursuit of a title shot.
He also put his name in the record book. Miocic landed 361 total strikes, the most by any fighter in UFC history. He surpassed the 355 landed by Royce Gracie at UFC 5 and the modern-era mark of 320 by Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.
Miocic also set a record for strike differential, landing 315 more total strikes than Hunt in the five rounds.
A large contingent of fans appeared to hope it would never get that far. As early as the second round, many social media users were pleading for the fight to be stopped. That opinion seemed to reach near-unanimous levels by the fourth round. Sharp finally stepped in at 2:47 of the fifth.
UFC president Dana White was among the group on Twitter lobbying for a stoppage. He went from praising Hunt’s toughness early in the fight to posting that it was time to stop the beating.
But the company’s top executive on scene wasn’t ready to completely fault the official during the postfight news conference.
“I’m not a referee, but from my perspective, I think they probably could have stopped it earlier,” said Tom Wright, the UFC’s managing director of UFC operations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. “But in the end, I’m not standing right on top of these two guys. Mark Hunt is as tough as they come, and Stipe obviously demonstrated his skills. It is what it is, and you can’t change it now, but let’s just move forward.”
Miocic said he was more concerned with securing the biggest win of his career than whether the fight lasted too long.
“I saw that I was winning, and I was going to keep going forward until they stopped the fight or I got the decision. I didn’t care,” Miocic said. “Of course, I was looking for the finish, there was no question. I felt like I got it in the early rounds, but he’s a tough guy. That’s why the ref let it go as long as he did. But I was going to keep digging and digging, and they stopped it, which is fine.”
Hunt posted a photo of his wrecked face on social media after the fight.
“The old warhorse got beaten up sorry was to tired big mistake to be tired wen u facing the top end congrats stipe well done mate thanks for everyone’s support,” Hunt wrote.
Hunt was examined by a doctor after the fourth round and allowed to continue. His corner never appeared to consider stopping the fight, either.
With the dominant performance, Miocic is in position to potentially challenge for the heavyweight title down the road.
“We’ll see what the UFC wants to do with me,” he said. “But right now, I just want to hang out with my family and my friends and just soak it in tonight.”
■ ROUSEY BOOK RELEASE — UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s much-discussed autobiography hits bookstores today.
“My Fight/Your Fight” details Rousey’s rise to fame, including her struggles with her father’s suicide and adjusting to life after winning a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics.
Rousey will sign copies of the book at the Rainbow Promenade Barnes &Noble beginning at 1 p.m. May 23.
■ PETTIS HURT — Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis injured an elbow during training and pulled out of a July 25 fight in Chicago against Myles Jury.
Jury now will fight Edson Barboza on the Fox card.
The injury to Pettis will require surgery and cause him to miss several months.
■ FIGHTS FOR BREAKFAST — A featherweight bout between Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber will serve as the main event for the UFC’s first card in the Philippines on Saturday.
Also on the main card, which airs at 7 a.m. on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329), middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi will fight Costa Philippou.
Mark Munoz will meet Luke Barnatt in another middleweight bout. Munoz has said he will retire after the fight.
The four-fight preliminary card will air live on the network at 5 a.m.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
