Who is Brock Lesnar’s UFC 200 Opponent?

The news that Brock Lesnar will be competing shocked the world but does his opponent, Mark Hunt, stand a chance against “The Beast Incarnate”?

At UFC 199, it was confirmed the WWE’s Brock Lesnar will once against compete in the octagon.  The two-time UFC Heavyweight champion’s return will take place on the already stacked UFC 200 card set for July 9th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  This will mark Lesnar’s first appearance in the UFC since he was knocked out by Alistair Overeem in December of 2011.  When the announcement first came down it was without an opponent for Lesnar.  However, it was announced on June 6th that his opponent will be against New Zealand native and former title contender, Mark Hunt.

The entire UFC and WWE worlds know Lesnar very well.  However, Hunt (12-10) is revered heavily in the world of MMA.  Being a 12 year veteran of the sport, Hunt has competed all over the globe with stops in Pride FC, Dream, and K-1 before eventually landing in the UFC in the Fall of 2010.  His debut in the UFC came with a little bit of fanfare.  After all, Hunt had defeated legends Wanderlei Silva (granted, it was an open-weight tournament) and Mirko Cro Cop.  But before leaving Pride, he was on a six-fight losing streak.

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Hunt had a career resurgence of sorts when he began his UFC tenure.  After his debut submission loss to the unheralded Sean McCorkle, The Super Samoan went on a four fight winning streak, 3 wins by way of knockout.  3 of his victims in that run were Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo, and Stefan Struve, all at one time or another top 10 UFC heavyweights.  This would lead to him a showdown with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in December of 2013.  In the main event, the two would fight to a 5 round majority draw in what turned out to be one of the best fights in UFC Heavyweight history.

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After the Bigfoot war, Hunt disposed of Roy Nelson via second knockout and less than two months later stepped in on short notice for injured heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, to fight Fabricio Werdum for the vacant title.  In his only world title shot, Hunt fought bravely but succumbed to strikes from Werdum in the second round.  He would then later go on to get knocked out by now current heavyweight champ, Stipe Miocic, before avenging his draw with Bigfoot Silva by knocking him cold in just under 4 minutes and then followed that up with an even quicker knockout of former 2 time UFC Heavyweight champ, Frank Mir in November of 2015.

So that leads us to now.  With less than 5 weeks away from the Hunt/Lesnar showdown, a ton of questions will be asked.  Will Lesnar’s ring rust be too much?  Can Hunt handle Lesnar on the ground?  Can Lesnar stand up to Hunt’s power?  If I were to guess, the answers are maybe, no, and doubtful.  Lesnar is always in shape, there’s no doubt about that.  But working in a WWE ring and fighting in an octagon are two completely different animals.  Since Lesnar’s departure in December of 2011, Hunt has fought 9 times against some of the UFC’s best heavyweights.  Lesnar better do a lot of sparring.

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These two men are two completely different types of fights.  Lesnar, being a 2 time NCAA division I collegiate wrestler, lives on the mat.  And although he does have some sheer power in his hands, The Beast will no doubt look to take Hunt into his world.  Hunt has never seemed comfortable off of his feet as he has been submitted in 6 of his 10 career losses.  On the other hand, Hunt is a world class striker.  Even before his days in MMA, he compiled a 33-10 record as a kickboxer and even snatched up 4 K-1 Grand Prix tournament wins.  Lesnar has never had the best jaw as evidenced by his fights with Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez and Hunt will look to expose that.

So does Hunt have a chance?  Big time.  In fact, I’d be stunned if he wasn’t the betting favorite.  He has everything going in his favor.  The striking, the experience, the recent activity all favor Hunt.  But there is something about getting in there with the massive Lesnar that has made his former opponents wilt under his hulking presence.  Between Frank Mir and Randy Couture, the two former multi-time champions had almost a combined 20 years of experience before stepping into the cage with Lesnar and were both summarily punished by him.

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Hunt will clearly have a big test in front of him but so will Lesnar.  Their two contrasting styles could either make a terrific fight or a very quick one.  As if there weren’t enough reasons to order UFC 200, the clash between these two titans could very well steal the show.