Though he will return to the cage in March, Mark Hunt is not forgetting about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his last fight. Hunt is officially taking action now, as he has filed a civil suit against Lesnar, the UFC and Dana White on Tuesday.
An initial report from ESPN revealed that Hunt was suing the defendants and seeking damages “in the millions”. His complaint stems from Lesnar failing two drug tests ahead of his fight with Hunt at UFC 200.
Hunt’s civil suit accuses the UFC of eight charges, including racketeering, fraud, negligence and breach of contract.
Hunt told ESPN that he aims to answer for the fact that Lesnar fought him with banned substances in his system and was still allowed to keep his heavy paycheck.
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“I want the UFC to understand it’s not OK to keep doing what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re allowing guys to do this. They had a chance to take all the money from this guy, because he’s a cheater, and they didn’t.
“What message is that sending to the boys and girls who want to be a fighter someday? The message is ‘You just have to cheat like this and it’s OK.’ In society, if you commit a crime, you pay. Why is it different in MMA? It’s hurt the business, so it’s even worse. They need to be held accountable for this.”
Ahead of Lesnar’s surprise comeback at UFC 200, Lesnar was controversially given an exemption from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s policy that states that fighters who have been out of their testing pool must enter into it for four months before returning. Lesnar was therefore allowed to fight in July, and two pre-fight drug tests came back after the fight with the banned substance clomiphene showing in Lesnar’s system.
A similarly controversial moment happened pre-USADA, when Vitor Belfort fought Jon Jones at UFC 152. The UFC was reportedly aware that Belfort had an elevated level of testosterone and they allowed the fight to happen anyway. Hunt’s suit brings up this case as an example of the UFC’s corrupt dealings with anti-doping.
Hunt is scheduled to fight Alistair Overeem at UFC 209 on March 4.