MMA legend Mark Hunt shows off 60lb weight loss for Sonny Bill Williams fight

Former UFC fighter Mark Hunt returns to the ring on Saturday for the first time in two years to face New Zealand rugby legend Sonny Bill Williams, who is unbeaten in nine fights

Mark Hunt has cut down from almost 350lb (

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MMA legend Mark Hunt has joked that cutting cheesecakes from his diet has been the key to losing over 60lb ahead of his boxing return.

Hunt, 48, returns to the ring this Saturday for the first time in two years as he faces former rugby star Sonny Bill Williams, who is unbeaten in nine professional fights. ‘The Super Samoan’ parted ways with the UFC in 2018 on bad terms after spending almost a decade in the promotion and has since lost his only fight to another ex-rugby star in Paul Gallen.

The New Zealander weighed almost 350lb when Williams’ manager, Khoder Nasser, reached out to him about the fight in September. Now, just days out from the fight, Hunt has revealed he’s slimmed down to 285lb. The MMA legend will still have a huge weight advantage over Williams, who weighed 109kg (240lb) for his fight against Barry Hall earlier this year.

Revealing the key to his weight loss, Hunt jokingly told Nine : “No more cheesecakes.” The combat sports veteran spoke highly of opponent Williams but doesn’t see their fight going the distance. “I don’t think it’s going to go eight rounds, to be honest,” he added.

“I think Sonny would like it to go eight rounds. I don’t think it’ll go eight rounds. I’m going to make sure it doesn’t go eight rounds. Sonny is a special athlete, a special person to be honest. To be called out, I didn’t look at it as a sign of disrespect, because he could have called out many people, but it goes to show the integrity of him.”

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Mark Hunt (second from left) has lost over 60lb for his upcoming fight (

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Hunt alleged the UFC knew about his former opponent Brock Lesnar’s failed drug test before their 2016 fight and subsequently filed a lawsuit against them, but things haven’t gone his way and he was ordered pay attorney fees and costs amounting to $388,000 to the promotion earlier this year.

The heavyweight always had a tense relationship with the UFC even when he was an active fighter in the promotion and he said it was “a breath of fresh air” to negotiate his fight with Williams. “Making a deal with Khoder, it took half an hour instead of all these snakes in the grass. With Khoder, it’s been a breath of fresh air, to be honest,” Hunt added.