Sherdog.com’s 2014 Knockout of the Year

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4. Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson
UFC Fight Night “Hunt vs. Nelson”
Sept. 20 | Saitama, Japan

Hunt being on the delivery end of a “Knockout of the Year” entrant is what we are used to.

For whatever reason, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s thought process for its occasional Japanese events remains, “Hey, these fans definitely want to see Pride Fighting Championships and K-1 fighters from a decade ago.” At this point, even the most nostalgic hardcore fans do not have a burning desire to see dilapidated incarnations of guys like Takanori Gomi and Yoshihiro Akiyama in the Octagon. However, Hunt is a different story all together.

The fight community just cannot quit the man and probably will never be able to. Hunt fulfills the most common stereotypes about Samoan ruggedness; he is equal parts charisma and obliviousness, his weight ranges from “quite fat” to “pretty obese,” and most importantly, he never stops providing hearty, face-punching entertainment. Throwing him in a UFC Fight Night headliner at Saitama Super Arena against similarly corpulent puncher Nelson was not necessarily inspired matchmaking, but that did not make it any less tantalizing. You know what you are getting into with a Hunt-Nelson clash. Two popular, rotund punchers guaranteed to swap power shots might be low-hanging fruit, but it is still awfully delicious.

Hunt closed as a slight -120 favorite, and the contest began just as conventional wisdom suggested it would, with both men landing punches and leg kicks in true technical brawler style. Hunt landed the cleaner, harder punches, but Nelson managed to rock back the New Zealander’s head back and trip him with leg kicks. As the pattern continued in the second round, Hunt began rolling his shoulders and weaving around Nelson’s jab and power strikes, trying to wind up on big right hands. He looked for his chopping right hook, and he looked for massive right uppercuts. It was not until Hunt went back to his jab and lead lefts that he was able to move Nelson back to the cage, get him standing flat-footed and set up a classic Hunt clobbering.

Nelson retreated to the fence, cross-blocking his chin with his right hand. He tried to throw a quick left-right combo to keep the jabbing Hunt at bay, but the Kiwi was not really after the jab. As soon as Nelson’s right hand moved from his chin into punching position, Hunt aimed and speared “Big Country” with a submarining right-handed uppercut. The deceptively quick release and lack of arc made it look like a harpoon shot. Nelson froze, his hands spreading out as if he was going to brace himself for the knockdown. Instead, his senses evaporated and he plopped prone on his face. In inimitable Hunt fashion, the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner realized the bout was over before Nelson hit the deck, holding his hands up in victory as his opponent splattered on the mat at the three-minute mark of the second round.

It was just the second time Nelson was stopped in his 10-year, 30-fight career, which is all the more amazing given some of the artillery he has withstood from elite heavyweights. The only other man up to the task was former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at EliteXC “Heat” in October 2008. Unlike Arlovski, Hunt did not need a B.S. standup from referee Jorge Ortiz to escape Nelson’s side mount; he did not even need a sponsor banner for the fight. No, Hunt handled business against Nelson all by himself.

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