Lawsuit Filed Against UFC by Heavyweight Fighter Mark Hunt

According to ESPN, heavyweight Mark Hunt officially filed a lawsuit against the UFC, president Dana White and former opponent Brock Lesnar on Tuesday.

The Lawsuit

Hunt alleges that the UFC, White and Lesnar “affirmatively circumvented and obstructed fair competition for their own benefit.” Hunt has been vocal about his displeasure surrounding the circumstances of his main even fight against Lesnar at UFC 200 back in July in Las Vegas.

Lesnar defeated Hunt in the bout, but it was later revealed that Lesnar failed multiple drug tests on both ends of the event. Hunt is accusing the defendants of racketeering, fraud and other charges. Hunt wants financial relief for physical damages as well as damages to his overall brand.

Hunt believes Lesnar should have faced far stiffer sanctions for his doping, including a fine of a fighter’s entire purse if he is found to have cheated afterward.

Lesnar’s Doping

Lesnar came out of a five-year retirement in order to participate in the event. Per UFC’s anti-doping program, a retired fighter has to undergo four months of random drug testing prior to an official bout. The UFC waived the mandatory tests for Lesnar citing “exceptional circumstances.”

Lesnar failed a pair of drug tests. One was conducted on June 28^th, a couple of weeks prior to the fight, and another was administered on fight night. On both occasions, he tested positive for clomiphene, which is an anti-estrogen agent.

Lesnar’s Penalties

Rather than take all of the winnings away from Lesnar, the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined him just 10 percent of his winnings from that night. He won $2.5 million for defeating Hunt, but was only docked $250,000.

He was also suspended from fighting for one year, though he had already previously described the fight against Hunt as a “one-off”. He may return to MMA on July 15^th if he so chooses, but neither suspension affects his ongoing WWE career. Lesnar is also believed to have earned additional pay-per-view bonuses worth undisclosed amounts.

Hunt earned $700,000 for fighting Lesnar. The UFC decided against enacting further punishment against Lesnar, which reportedly irritated Hunt. According to his attorney, Christina Denning, Hunt is seeking amounts “in the millions” in the lawsuit.

Hunt alleges that UFC waived the four-month testing window on Lesnar because they were aware and willfully indifferent about Lesnar’s use of a banned substance.

Hunt’s Background

This marked the third consecutive fighter Hunt has faced that was later caught cheating. He fought Anderson Silva to a draw in 2015, and defeated Frank Mir in March of last year. Both Silva and Mir were later found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Hunt has turned down a pair of fights since UFC 200, but is currently slated to take on Alistair Overeem at UFC 209 in March in Las Vegas.