vs. Couture. Hunt KO. TDD is good enough to make a largely standing affair. Couture gets stopped inside 2 rounds. vs. Arlovski. This would be a striking match. Arlovski might have some early success, but even if he lands his best shots, Hunts chin was uncrackable at this point and we all know the story with Arlovski. Hunt KO1 vs. Rizzo. Prime Rizzo was a completely different beast especially on the feet compared to other heavyweights on the UFC roster, but Hunt could match him there and then some. Hunt KO inside 3 rounds. vs. Mir. I see no reason why this goes any different than it did last year, both guys were definitely past their best but it's likely that barring an insane comeback submission finish that Mir gets stopped in this one. Hunt KO inside 2 rounds. vs. Sylvia. Sylvia might be able to cause some early trouble with his size and wrestling, but eventually Hunt finds his spot and gets big Tim out of there. Hunt KO3 vs. Barnett. Well... We all know what happened in Pride, Barnetts chin is good enough to eat a few hard shots from Hunt and his striking is good enough to hang until he can drag the fight to the mat. Result would be the same. Barnett SUB or UD. vs. Coleman... Coleman had his fair share of struggles with elite strikers, especially ones with solid bases and good TDD like Hunt. Like Cro Cop and Maurice Smith before him, Hunt wins this fight with his takedown defense and superior striking ability. Hunt KO inside 2 rounds. vs. Severn.. See Coleman and Couture for how this one would go down. Dan was already an older guy and not as good as the former two, Hunt stops him in the very 1st round. vs. K. Shamrock - Love Ken but the generational gap would just be too much. Hunt stops him in the very 1st round. vs. Lesnar - This can go either one of two ways... Lesnar takes a boring decision or Hunt catches a timid Lesnar on the feet and causes him to turtle up and quit, there are cardio concerns for The Beast here as well... All that said I tentatively lean towards Lesnar by uninspiring decision. vs. Velasquez- Valasquez is a whole different beast compared to the other wrestlers here. His cardio, wrestling, striking are on different levels. He wouldn't be naive enough to stand with Hunt for longer than he needed to, he systematically breaks Hunts down with his wrestling and superior fitness and either forces a late mercy stoppage from the ref/Hunts corner or takes a dominant UD. vs. Dos Santos. This again would largely be a striking affair with maybe the occasional takedown from Dos Santos. Unfortunately for Dos Santos he'd be dealing with a prime Hunt with a caste iron chin and quicker hands, this one is a tossup but I'm going to go with Hunt by SD. vs. Miocic - See Velasquez. Miocic just has too many tools here, he breaks Hunt down to a late stoppage or a dominant UD verdict. vs. Werdum - Hunt had his moments in their fight back in late 2014, but that was a 40+ year old Hunt... That said different times cause for different measures, Werdum avoids the standup and pulls a come from behind submission from his hat. Werdum SUB3. Apart from Miocic, Barnett and Velasquez - Hunt has a good shot at winning all of these fights. Lesnar, Dos Santos and Werdum are toss ups. Everything else apart from those 6 he almost certainly wins. Thoughts?
Out of that list I'd pick him to beat Shamrock, Severn, Rizzo, Mir and Arlovski. Couture, Coleman and Lesnar are tossups. He'd probably pull an upset or two because of his power and ability to stay in fights.
I'd comfortably pick Hunt to win those fights, a lot less margin for error for those guys than there is Hunt. Eventually he stops a takedown or hulks his way up and forces a stoppage on the feet. Both have had their fair share of struggles with strikers who have good or even serviceable takedown defense.
You have to be a true super heavy power house with a good wrestling base to keep Hunt on his back indefinitely, and I just can't picture Couture or Coleman doing that.
@lufcrazy your input in needed. @IntentionalButt I know you like K-1 and don't mind old school MMA as much. How do you think Hunt fairs h2h here?
I'll look in more detail at some point, but I'll say this. For someone with a prime .50 record, Hunt is one of the best ever. He can beat any fighter ever in the history of MMA with his power. Whether he would or not is another matter. I'll answer the matchups at some point tonight, probably when the Mrs falls asleep lol. That being said my proper knowledge only goes up to 2006.
Yeah there's more than meets the eye when glancing at his record. For example the 4 fight losing streak that lasted from 2008-2010 didn't really have much to do with his decline in ability as it did his lack of motivation(he admitted to going through some personal problems and was pretty much just showing up for a paycheck) 100% believable given his return to form.
You really think that prime Couture and Coleman couldn't beat Hunt? They both are capable of exploiting Hunt's two main weaknesses which was/is his lack of a gastank and a ground game. Peak Coleman was a far more highly decorated wrestler and better overall fighter than Brock Lesnar. Hell of a lot tougher too. The best version of Coleman imo was the one who won the 2000 pride open weight GP, if that Coleman could take down prime Igor Vov and batter him into submission, he could do the same to Hunt. Of course he might get knocked out, so it's a toss up. Best version of Couture at HW imo was the one who beatdown Gonzaga, the pace he was able to maintain in that fight was amazing. If that version of Couture could avoid the big bomb while closing the distance he'd make Hunt work nonstop, battling for underhooks on the cage all while peppering him with short shots to body and head. Hunt would be fin
Coleman was inconsistent and struggled with strikers who had good TDD. Igor was no Hunt... He was smaller and thus bullied much easier. I think the Smith and Cro Cop fights serve as a better measuring stick for how this one would go. Never really rated Gonzaga tbh... He was a flash in the pan for the most part, aside from his flukish highlight reel over an injury ridden Cro Cop what has he ever done? He was always chinny and inconsistent in the cage. I think Couture certainly would have a better chance than Coleman, but I strongly favor Hunt here. Couture has to fight the perfect fight for 5 rounds and not take any big punches from Hunt....
Hunt is a big lump with a low centre of gravity but he can be taken down. Guys like Rothwell and Dos Santos put him on his back and Lesnar took him down when he needed to. Unless he KO'd him right away I see no way he would avoid being taken down by prime Coleman. Smith and Hunt have very little in common, Smith won using a strategy that Hunt wouldn't have been able to execute. Under the modern time/round limit Coleman would've beaten Smith anyway. Of course with hindsight you can deride Gonzaga but at the time he was a big, strong contender viewed as very dangerous for Couture. The constant grappling and striking pace he pushed on Gonzaga was incredible for mma HW standards, Hunt would have to catch Randy early before the fatigue sets in or he gets subbed/tko'd late.
Couture was never really a legit HW though, he was a blown up LHW... Obviously he was able to carry a pace that most heavyweights couldn't(even at an advanced age) he's not a legit full sized HW like Miocic or Velasquez, who also possess spectacular cardio but have HW power and physicality to go along with it. There's no way Couture TKO's Hunt, even Miocic beat the hell out of an old Hunt for nearly 5 rounds and could only get a mercy stoppage... Sub is pretty unlikely too, Hunt's only been subbed by submission experts like Fedor and Barnett(not counting the run from 2008-2010 - Hunt was going to personal struggles, barely training and was just showing up to get paid)
Ok, how are we to define the ability of Hunt? I mean let's look at excuse able losses (as in people who should be better than him) Reem, Miocic, Dos Santos, Werdum, Fedor and Barnett. No shame at all losing to those. Let's look at awesome victories. Silva, Mirko, Rothwell, Struve, Bigfoot, Mir, Lewis. Based on that you'd say he can beat anyone outside of the best of all time since those he lost to are legitimate ATG fighters (aside from maybe Reem). However we also have to factor in Manhoef, Mousasi and McCorckle. Do we just dismiss them as him not training? I don't know tbh. So he's at worst someone who can beat anyone on his night and at best an inconsistent fighter who can win a fight with the right punch. As for these matchups. Couture is not a heavyweight ATG, he's a p4p ATG. An absolutely incredible talent who would be grossly undersized here and would ultimately be knocked out. Hunt KO. Arlovski and Rizzo, both did the goods in UFC but I feel that's more a product of them being in a weaker organisation than Pride FC. Scoring controversy aside both had inflated rankings due to a shallow division. Hunt KO. Mir. I really rate Mir. I feel he's legit as good as Werdum or Nog. If anyone has excuseable losses it's him. Mir sub. Sylvia is a bit like Andrei and Rizzo in that his ranking is inflated by a weak division, but he was very good and better than the aforementioned two. That being said his chin was woeful for someone with his style and Hunt takes him out no doubt. Barnett, this is a fight we already know. Barnett beats him with his ground game. Coleman. The 5x5 system suits his game to a tea and I've no doubt he takes Hunt down and keeps him down. Coleman tko. Severn and Shamrock are both a level underneath Coleman. This is a very close call and basically comes down to how often Hunt lands his moneymaker. I say he goes 1-1 here. Lesnar. As much as people don't like him, he proved a lot in a short span and his name belongs on any list. I say Lesnar beats him like Coleman would. G&P baby. Other fights already happened. Best way to sum up Hunt for me? The best man who was never HW champion (of either organisation or tournament). If you are willing to excuse those 3 bad losses, then the limit is just those who actually beat him.
Hunt is one of those guys that could potentially beat anybody on his day, but has enough holes, particularly in his ground game, to be beaten by the top guys as well. Great to watch!
Yeah for sure. But I don't really consider him a UFC HW legend. Most of these guys are former HW champs, or should be Champs(Rizzo was robbed against Couture)
