Hunt may sue to get contract changed so fighter gets PED fines

“He’s probably sitting there laughing about all the money he’s making.”
Mark Hunt

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt’s last three opponents were Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, and Antonio Silva. Each has run afoul of doping regulations immediately after a fight with ‘The Super Samoan’.

Mir knocked out Silva in the first in November of last year, but the fight with Silva before that was a draw, changed to a No Contest after Silva tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. ‘Bigfoot’ was on the now discredited testosterone replacement therapy at the time.

Mir tested positive for oral turinabol metabolites after their fight in March at UFN 85 in Brisbane, Australia. Mir suggested with a straight face that it might have come from the ingestion of tainted kangaroo meat. Unfortunately for that theory, kangaroo meat in Australia is not farmed.

The Brock Lesnar fight, which Hunt lost via decision, was the most controversial of all. Before the fight, Hunt charged that Lesnar was on performance enhancing drugs. Although returning fighters to the UFC are required to undergo four months of testing, regulations allowed for that to be waived for Lesnar, as there was no drug testing when he left.

Lesnar was tested furiously during the short run up to the fight. And he actually failed a prefight test, for hydroxy-clomiphene, an anti-estrogen agent that might typically be taken at the end of a cycle. However, USADA categorizes it as a specified substance, due to the greater likelihood of a credible non-doping explanation for a test failure. Calamitously, the failed test result did not come back until after the fight was over. Lesnar vowed to get to the bottom of it and has been testing a foot cream as a possible source of the test failure.

Hunt is apoplectic, and demanding stronger penalties for doping violations and new provisions in his contract, giving him any fines potentially levied on future opponents. If someone runs into your car on the highway and is fined for Reckless Endangerment, any fine levied by the state does not go to you. However, Hunt’s concept is not wholly without precedent.

Frequently when a fighter misses weight the fine or part of it goes to the opponent. And WADA sometimes directs that the cheater has to forfeit money to the other athletes. Further adding to the case’s complexity the NSAC is currently handling it, but the UFC and USADA theoretically have the power to take back at least part of the purse too.

Hunt said he has already turned down fights with Josh Barnett, who has failed PED tests in the past, and Junior dos Santos, because the UFC will not amend his contract to give him any fines levied for his opponent’s PED test failures.

Hunt has retained the services of attorney Christina Denning from Higgs, Fletcher and Mack, a law firm based in San Diego, California. He is prepared to take legal action if his demands are not met. Indeed, he wishes the suit had already begun, but Denning counsels that it is prudent to first exhaust negotiation.

Denning noted that Lesnar was granted a continuance to get to the bottom of it all until November 10, and will be requesting another one, until December. The attorney explained that before a decision is made on whether to pursue legal action against the UFC, Lesnar’s hearing has to play out. But Hunto is not happy.

“I don’t think the penalties are harsh enough. I don’t think it is a fair environment,” said Hunt on a conference call with Michael Stets for MMAmania.com, Denning, and his longtime attorney Michael Connette. “I’ve probably fought more juicers than anybody. The difference is now is that I realized I can actually lose an eye or something and not be able to compete again. I know fighting is kind of hard and all, but when these losers are taking steroids it makes it even worse.”

Denning described the current situation as a “conundrum.”

“We’ve got the UFC’s own anti-doping policy, which also gives the UFC the ability to take away Lesnar’s purse, and it’s broad enough to include any money that he makes from the result of these fights,” said Denning. “So, theoretically, the UFC upon the finding of a violation could take all of the money back from Brock. Not only the 2.5 million dollar purse, but anything he earned from pay-per-view, if he had a win bonus, all of that, and then put it into its anti-doping program. Or better yet – and what we’d like to see happen – is the person that had to get in the ring with him gets allocated that money.”

Hunt’s fury has not abated in the least.

“You can say the UFC is trying to do everything they can to try and catch drug users, but then why would they give him a four-month exemption? I think they actually knew,” said Hunt. “They actually knew the pro wrestler was on the juice. All those losers are juicing. It’s all fake. It’s not a natural competition. They can do whatever they want to look good for the audience because it’s all scripted. How do I know this? I did pro wrestling in Japan myself. I’ve taken a lot of fights on short notice, but this one they gave him a four-month exemption. They had the sale on.”

Denning went far, far further still and said that she will be looking at the RICO Act (Racketeering influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) around the unfounded allegation that the UFC knew Lesnar was doping, and allowed him to fight anyway.

“One of these things that we are exploring – and same with Brock Lesnar there is causative action against him as well – but one of the things that we are exploring is actually racketeering, RICO violations, because there is a pattern for the benefit of the UFC to gain monetary benefit off of engaging in this behavior,” she said.

Denning said that she has flown to Nevada to negotiate with the UFC’s legal team and that “they’ve been receptive” and “haven’t closed any doors” for now. But neither have they accepted Hunt’s contract terms.

Denning said she was determined to exhaust the hearing process, while the justifiably bitter fighter said, “I wanted to file the lawsuit ages ago.”