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The legal tussle between Mark Hunt and the UFC can be traced back to 2017.
Hunt filed a suit against the promotion, its president Dana White and Brock Lesnar. The heavyweight fight between Hunt and Lesnar prompted the New Zealander's pursuit of reparations.
The pair threw down in the UFC 200 co-main event back in July 2016. Lesnar emerged triumphant against 'The Super Samoan'. However, it was subsequently revealed that he had tested positive for a banned substance prior to the clash and the decision was overturned to a No Contest.
Lesnar's fight against Hunt marked his return from an almost five-year-long retirement. The UFC's anti-doping policy subjects retired fighters to random drug tests across four months in the build-up to their fight. The UFC, however, waived this testing period for Lesnar.
Mark Hunt claimed the UFC was privy to Brock Lesnar's transgressions
Mark Hunt's lawsuit alleged that the UFC granted Brock Lesnar a significant amount of leeway when it came to random testing procedures. He believes that was because the promotion had knowledge of the fact that 'The Beast Incarnate' had been indulging in banned substances.
Hunt echoed the same sentiment while in conversation with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
"What upsets me about that is, I'm just thinking maybe they knew. Did they know about this? Is that why they're not doing anything about it? Did they give this f***ing fool an exemption for four months because they knew about this? Because surely if they know about this, they don't give a rat's about any of us." (h/t ESPN)
Check out Mark Hunt's appearance on The MMA Hour after his fight with Lesnar below:
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit breathed new life into Mark Hunt's pursuit of justice after it reopened the case on September 24. It was initially dismissed in 2019.
This means that the United States District Court for Nevada will have to reconsider all the claims made by Mark Hunt with a brand new set of instructions from a higher court.
