Mark Hunt Can Now Return to the UFC

Mark Hunt’s career came into jeopardy when he wrote an article detailing symptoms of CTE. He was consequently pulled from his fight at UFC Sydney and on leave from the UFC indefinitely. This resulted in Hunt seeking out a myriad of tests from the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, to try and prove that he is still fit to fight. After an exclusive statement was given to MMA Fighting, the UFC has cleared Mark Hunt for competition after his succesful medical analysis.

“We’ve just had a conference call with the doctors in the States, who gave us the good news, so it’s all looking positive. The doctor said Mark scored well above average and that he’s good to compete. So they’ll ring the UFC now and let them know. We’re just waiting on the UFC to clear him. Now Mark’s been cleared twice. He’s done testing with two experts in Australia — and been cleared — before going and proving himself again in the US. Obviously our concern was always Mark’s health and we’re pleased to know everything is fine.”

Former champ @FabricioWerdum steps in for Mark Hunt against @MarcinTybura at #UFCSydney!

📰 https://t.co/ELxidkoCZ3 pic.twitter.com/fiatJ8NILe

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) October 11, 2017

“The doc said he’ll forward on the results to the UFC and so we’ll wait to hear from them. We would love for Fabricio [Werdum] to be Mark’s opponent in Perth. We think Francis Ngannou is next in line for a title fight. So we’d like to go up against Fabricio and hopefully be in line for a title hot at the back end of 2018.” – Mark Hunt’s manager Zen Ginnen told The Daily Telegraph.

Mark Hunt’s manger’s suggestion after the results were to have Hunt return in Perth, now that the UFC has signed off on all of his paperwork, an Australian return seems like a no-brainer. You should know by now that the main event of the February card is Robert Whittaker versus Luke Rockhold for the undisputed middleweight title that was just vacated by Georges St-Pierre. It’d be great to get a couple of heavy-hitting heavyweights for the co-main event.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/8/2017.