Why Mark Hunt may not succeed at UFC 144 against Cheick Kongo? – UFC Special
The 37-year-old mixed martial art (MMA) fighter from New Zealand has been on a losing end for a long time. At UFC 144 to be held on February 26, 2012, hosted by The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Hunt has been in a bout
against French MMA fighter Cheick Kongo. Their bout would be a test for Hunt and his fighting skills.
Hunt, who is also a kick boxer, made his professional MMA debut in June 2004 against Japanese MMA fighter Hidehiko Yoshida but could not make a winning start. He did have a winning streak but it went only for five bouts. He was
unable to carry on with his wins. From July 2006 to September 2010 he faced six consecutive defeats which had a toll on his career.
For Hunt, his bout against Kongo would be an important one if he needs to keep his MMA career alive. Hunt has lost his bouts against Josh Barnett, Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef Gegard Mousasi and Sean McCorkle.
These losses would have made a negative impact on Hunt’s mind. He was not able to win any bout for nearly five years.
This period of defeat might have silenced the fighter within Hunt and he may have difficulty facing Kongo at UFC 144. Although Hunt managed to end his losing streak in 2011 by winning the bout against Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 127
in February 2011 followed by another win over Ben Rothwell at UFC 135 in September 2011, Hunt would still be feeling a bit uncertain about his self-esteem.
Hunt, the 5ft 10in fighter, made an unsuccessful entry into the UFC circuit when he lost to Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 in September 2010. For Hunt, the major concern at the moment would be to bring his physical shape back to normal.
He would also need to work on his mental capability and the capacity to think positive in the bout.
His opponent, 36-year-old Kongo, has also faced six losses in his MMA career but those defeats came in various parts of his career and were not stacked together. Kongo did faced two straight defeats but that was the first and only
time when he lost in successive bouts. He lost to Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in June 2009 followed by a defeat to Frank Mir at UFC 107 in December 2009.
Kongo is also a long time fighter in the UFC. He made his UFC debut at UFC 61 in July 2006 while Hunt entered into the UFC circuit in September 2010. Kongo contested in fifteen bouts for the UFC and won ten of them. On the other
hand, Hunt has fought three bouts in the UFC and lost one of them. Although Hunt has been fighting since 2004 as an MMA fighter but every MMA promotion has a different kind of environment.
The aura of UFC is quite different as compared to other promotions. In the UFC, fans want a decisive win and aggression to be shown by the fighters. Even though Hunt has won two bouts after his losing streak, but his aggression
might have softened a bit, which could become a hindrance in his fighting style. Hunt would need to focus on the fight and his destructive stance inside the UFC octagon ring.
Hunt would also have a tough time against Kongo because of the French MMA fighters’ clear height advantage. Hunt would not only enter the UFC ring with a burden to win the bout, but he would also face a far taller opponent. Hunt
stands at 5ft 10 but Kongo measures at 6ft 4in. It would get difficult for Hunt to takedown Kongo or to give a straight punch on Kongo’s face because of his height. Whatever the case is, Hunt’s losing streak and lower height may possibly be the reason why
he would not be able to defeat Kongo at UFC 144.
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